“Study of the Beast” Awarded Presidential Purchase Prize

For as long as they could remember, Billie Metcalf ‘25 had thought about “The Beast.”

“I don’t remember when I came up with the Beast, but it seemed like it was always there in my imagination,” Metcalf, an art major, said. “As a kid, I would draw pictures of it and here, I decided to create a mythology around it across different cultures.”

Metcalf’s mixed-media exhibit, “Study of the Beast,” which included a wall-sized mural, illustrated stone tablets, journal entries and sculpted “bones” found in the creature’s lair – perhaps of someone who got too close – received the Presidential Purchase Prize from President Jim Mullen.

“I was fascinated with the elaborate storytelling of Billie’s piece,” Mullen said. “When I was a child, I read so many similar stories and Billie’s work reminded me of what it was like to be that child.”

The award comes with a $500 cash prize and a piece from the exhibition will be hung in the President’s office for a year before being placed in the College Alumni Art Collection. “I’m thinking I’ll hang the tablets,” he said. “But I wish I could find a way to display all of it.”

“I’m so honored,” Metcalf said. “That someone was inspired and reminded of something they love is so much of why I made this. I love storytelling and wanted the viewers to draw their own story from this work.” 

Additional prizes included:

Most Improved: Ash Rhodes ‘25, Alex Stanton ‘25

Best in Show: Bailey Ernst ‘25, “Shadow Puppet”

Stanton’s augmented reality t-shirt exhibit, “Wander-AR,” also drew accolades from Mullen, who purchased one of the shirts from his pop-up shop outside of Anderson a few weeks back.

“I’m always so impressed with the work that we have on our campus,” Mullen said. “You, as artists, inspire and enrich our community.”