Audrey Stirling and Isabel Wilson are 2024-2025 Iowa State University artists-in-residence at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines. Offered through a partnership between the ISU Department of Art and Visual Culture and Mainframe Studios, the year-long residencies provide studio space to recent graduates of the BFA or MFA programs who are selected by art and visual culture faculty through an application process.

Stirling (BFA 2023 Integrated Studio Arts) and Wilson (BFA 2024 Integrated Studio Arts) will exhibit their work concurrently from March 7–25 in the third-floor gallery at Mainframe Studios. A reception will be from 5–8 p.m. Friday, March 7, in conjunction with Mainframe Studios’ First Friday event.

Stirling’s show, “Small Wonders: An Exhibition Celebrating Insects,” will feature work exploring the impact that insects have on humans and our environment. Using a variety of traditional metalsmithing processes, the objects she creates celebrate and honor insects for the roles they play and their contributions to human society. She intends for her work to influence the way people think about insects and to cultivate positive relationships between humans and insects.

Wilson’s exhibition, “Reflecting on…”, will feature work in a variety of mediums that expresses Wilson’s feelings about her experiences of the transition to womanhood. While the work has a strong focus on her own self-image, it incorporates universal themes related to young women in this stage of their lives.