Katrina Robinson and Marcus Warren, seniors in FAA, had an art show opening at the African American Cultural Program in Urbana on Saturday afternoon. Both displayed their senior theses artwork in an exhibit titled “Beneath the Surface,” which was part of the Boneyard Arts Festival, a countywide arts event that extended from Campustown to Rantoul, Ill.

The African American Cultural Program volunteered to be a venue for the festival and openly welcomed the students’ exhibit, said Angela Clark, assistant program director for the cultural program. The cultural program served as a Boneyard Arts Festival venue once before, in 2004.

“It’s just another avenue to promote positive cultural expression,” Clark said.

The Boneyard Arts Festival is in its fourth year. The local artist festival, which took place Friday through Sunday, included exhibits at 80 different venues throughout the county, according to the Web site of 40 North / 88 West, the Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council.

Apart from the Boneyard Arts Festival, Robinson and Warren’s exhibit also is part of a group of exhibits that will be on display at the cultural houses along Nevada Street. As part of the senior thesis for students majoring in a number of fine arts degrees, the students are required to organize an art show, Warren said.

“It’s part of a cultural block party that’s happening,” said Daniel Rom n, senior in FAA who will display his artwork at La Casa Cultural Latina, 1203 W. Nevada St., this weekend and who attended the opening exhibit.

Originally, a large group of students requested space at the Illini Union but could not get the space. Instead, the students decided to separate into smaller groups according to artwork themes and location preferences.

“We thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the cultural centers together and provide exposure for them,” said Jessica Rubenacker, senior in FAA who said she came to support her fellow classmates.

Robinson and Warren paired off together because their artwork consisted of race, class and media representations. Robinson’s artwork included acrylic canvas paintings of images from Hurricane Katrina. Her paintings titled “Looters vs Finders” and “Still Paying the Mortgage” were inspired by pictures from Time magazine and the Internet.

“I watched a lot of news coverage and got interested,” Robinson said. “I wanted to let the public know what was going on and that people still need help.”

Robinson also created cardboard replicas of designer purses to critique consumerism.

“I read a lot of fashion magazines,” Robinson said. “I picked (the purses) based on how well I could manipulate the cardboard.”

One of the replicas she created was a small tan Salvatore Ferragamo handbag that sells at a retail price of $850. In front of the display, Robinson had a small card that read “Forty-three months of funding for a child at the St. Jude Cancer Research Hospital” to emphasize the divide between consumerism and social justice issues throughout the world.

Warren’s artwork commented on racial stereotyping.

His artwork included 36-by-48-inch posters of African American GI Joes dressed as a rapper in gold chains, a murdered man covered in fake blood or a gang member holding a gun.

Warren started dressing up the dolls in different clothing about a year ago and later decided to photograph them.

“I’m hoping that when (people) see these images, they’ll recognize the stereotypes,” Warren said. “I just want to get people thinking about these prejudices.”

Rubenacker said these exhibits are important because they are part of the students’ final grades and are exciting because she gets to view the new artwork of her peers.

“Our professors wanted us to focus on this semester’s work for our shows,” Rubenacker said. “I was excited to see how they progressed from last semester.”