Russell County Native, Shane Dick, hosts art exhibition, displays Esports jersey design

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Shane Dick, senior Esports athlete at Campbellsville University, hosted the closing reception of his art exhibition Friday, March 18^th at the Pence-Chowning Art Gallery on main campus. Along with other pieces, Dick showcased the Campbellsville Esports sportswear he helped design.

Back at the beginning of his Campbellsville career, Dick, the 21-year-old art major from Russell Springs, chose the graphic design program on a gut feeling. “It was between chemistry and graphic design,” Dick said. “When I chose art as a major during priority registration it was a tough choice for me.” Dick continued, “I love the freedom and creativity behind it…it’s a great outlet to express yourself. Whether it’s digital or traditional art, you really get a sense of the personality of the artist.”

Esports is the competitive tournaments of videogames. Campbellsville competes in games such as Super Smash Bros., Rocket League, and Overwatch. It was CJ Moritz, head coach of Esports at Campbellsville University, that approached Dick to design new jerseys to play in. “I would often joke with [Moritz] about hiring me to design some clothing for him since everyone was aware that I was the art student on the team,” Dick shared. “[Moritz] wanted something very different and more stylish than what we had previously, so he thought I was a great choice since I understood the players on the team well and being the varsity captain of the Super Smash Bros. team.” The Tiger mascot informed Dick of his design with a claw scratching down the jersey along with a sharp font in the foreground. Dick said that he wanted to show their competitors that the Campbellsville Esports team are a force and would not be easy to defeat.

The exhibition itself was a bit of a puzzle to solve. “It was challenging setting everything up,” Dick mentioned, “problem solving how exactly to display the mannequins or how to arrange each wall to be unified and make the experience of walking through as positive as possible.” The main gallery was set up to show off Dick’s graphic design work since it was the emphasis of his art degree. His second room hosted watercolor paintings and the third held charcoal drawings, which was the first medium he learned at Campbellsville. The theme of the exhibition was “The Art of Progression” and the room layout was constructed to emulate that idea.

“I’d say it was a success,” Dick said. “It really has motivated me to push myself further. I look back at my art from freshman year and notice huge improvement, so four years from now, I’m looking forward to reviewing my current work from the show and noticing how much further I improve.” Dick started his classes at Campbellsville with little-to-no drawing experience. Since then, he has come to admire the trajectory of his work. “I feel like the art I create throughout the years really shows my growth as a person and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me.” 

After graduation, Dick intends to stick around Campbellsville and continue to work on his crafy. “I would like to do more graphic design work wherever I can find it and still work on my traditional art,” Dick shared. “One thing I never want to do is become stagnant in my growth or in life. I’m looking forward to improving not only my art but also growing as a person and continuing to learn.”