Eastern Student Artist Nicholas Khan of Willimantic Presents at First Annual CREATE Conference

2015 May 21

CREATE (Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern), the premier undergraduate research and art conference at Eastern Connecticut State University, held its inaugural event at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. By providing exemplary students of all majors an on-campus venue to present their research and creative work, CREATE was the culmination of the academic year, as well as the beginning of a new era.

Eastern Student Nicholas Khan '16, a Visual Arts major from Willimantic, presented at the conference. Mentored by Art Professor Andy Jones, Khan's presentation was an acrylic and oil painting "The Veil of the Temple," which includes old texts and aluminum tacks and nails.

The two-day event showcased approximately 170 student projects, including oral and poster presentations, art and photography exhibits, video and documentary viewings, and live music and dance performances.

"Why is CREATE important?" asked Professor Dickson Cunningham, co-chair of CREATE. In addition to contributing to the intellectual richness of campus and raising external perceptions of Eastern, he pointed out that for some students, CREATE is "the culmination of their undergraduate career," and that they should "feel a sense of pride and accomplishment." Cunningham concluded with, "Hopefully this will inspire other students to present and to develop mentor relationships with faculty."

The first-annual CREATE conference marked the merging of Eastern's two previous end-of-year academic conferences: the Excellence Expo and the Arts and Sciences Research Conference. Provost Rhona Free commented, "The merging of these two separate conferences took a lot vision, time and work," pointing out the campus-wide efforts that led to the creation of CREATE, in particular by the conference's organizational committee.

"It takes a very strong and dedicated student to produce this quality of work, and it's important for other students to see this output," said Free.