The College of Arts & Human Sciences is dedicated to supporting UW-Stout’s polytechnic mission through applied learning. Our programs are diverse, but we are united in our dedication to making the world a better place.
The projects and events on this page will give you an idea of the work our students and instructors are doing to create a better world. We invite you to explore the work we’re doing, join us for an event, and reach out to learn more about the ways we are Helping Humanity Flourish.
ART 101's Papercut Campus Views
Rachel Bruya, Associate Professor
At its core, art and artmaking helps humanity flourish. It strengthens mental and emotional health by lowering cortisol and helping regulate mood. It offers a way to express joy, conflict, and complexity when words fail. Artmaking builds resilience to help build coping skills and fosters a sense of meaning, purpose, and hope. Associate Professor Rachel Bruya had all these benefits and more in mind when designing a papercut project for her 2-D design class in the fall semester of 2025.
We began the project by going on a campus walk together and gathering photographs, which would be the basis for the “view”. Our walk started in the open space area just in front of the Applied Arts building, and we had the amazing experience of witnessing a bald eagle soaring above us. Students saw inspiration in their surroundings, and it gave them time and space to notice details. One of my goals for the project was to give them the opportunity to translate the banal to something that gives more meaning to their day-to-day life as a student.
We continued our walk across campus looking at both human made and natural environments and appreciating the world around us. The campus walk was a source of inspiration and camaraderie building amongst the class. It was inspiring to me as their instructor that they could find connection with classmates through the campus walk, and it was uplifting seeing groups of students wandering off to “find” their views together.
We then returned to the lab and began the process of translating the photographs to pure black and white designs, which were then transferred to color paper, and cut. The final paper cuts are presented laid on to a white paper backing.
The project trains the students to “see” both an overall balanced composition and the details they will need to capture for their final pieces. It helps them apply their knowledge of composition and explore positive and negative space, and it allows them to utilize their cutting skills in the process of translating an image to a single cut piece of paper.
We invite you to notice the details in the pieces below, keeping in mind that shadows and blurring sometimes occurs due to how the colored paper lays on to the white paper. We also invite you to consider the details in your own day-to-day experiences and to consider taking your own artmaking walk—or incorporating the act of noticing details into your own daily life.
These pieces will be on display in the Applied Arts Building during Senior Show Night in December.
