Meg Whitener is a returning philosophy major involved in the student arts here at SSU. “For me, making art is like breathing,” Whitener said. Once an executive pastry chef, she quit her career to return to college and pour her creative energy into making art.

A couple of art pieces she has gotten featured at SSU include Boyhood and Am I.

Boyhood features a set of antique Tonka trucks and a jar of dirt, on a rack in chains. Whitener describes this piece as focusing on a “pivot in childhood” and the lack of accessibility modern kids have to these toys or opportunities.

Am I was made by prompting AI to generate “anatomically correct hands”, and then hand-drawn based on the AI’s anatomy, which Whitener described as “uncanny”. She described how this would start conversations in the gallery as people looked at them saying “oh, these are pretty hands. Wait…” with the goal of showing how AI “fails to even replicate us.”

Meg hopes that her art is able to start conversations – and makes many of her pieces with the goal of getting people talking. She says it is important for everyone to “find their loud”, and for her, that is through art that makes people talk.

Upset about the Philosophy Department’s planned closure, Whitener expressed concerns that most of the departments closed were about critical thinking or finding a voice. In a time that is hostile to creatives and critical thinkers, Whitener said, it is important to “figure out what you value, and be loud.”