SAN FRANCISCO – In its annual event honoring the year's best work from more than 30 areas of art and design, Academy of Art University opened the doors to its 2018 Spring Show this past May. Mingling with industry leaders and recruiters as well as the local community, several ART U student-athletes displayed their talents and showcased their portfolios at this grand finale to the 2017-18 academic year.

Ironically side-by-side at Spring Show after running alongside one another for two seasons, women's cross country/track & field runners Kaelyn Harbison and Elizabeth Khuu welcomed audiences to their unique identity displays as members of the School of Graphic Design.

"Throughout my years at the Academy of Art, I was able to uncover my true potential as an artist and as a person," said Harbison. "Being able to show my work at the Spring Show, to such a large audience, and for it to be accepted in the way that it was meant the world to me."

Teammates to both Harbison and Khuu, School of Fashion majors and former distance runners Emily McCarty and McKaela Christenson (portfolio) had their garments from the 2018 Graduation Fashion Show proudly standing in the department's elevated section. Also from women's track & field, photographer and former sprinter/jumper Salihah Barnett (portfolio) had her detailed image of 14-time All-American Mobolade Ajomale on display. And not far from that could be found the intricate sketch-work of Visual Development major and softball freshman catcher Lauryn Henderson.

Some truly innovative work came out of the School of Industrial Design with representation by former women's basketball guard Irene Aranda (portfolio), men's cross country/track & field alum Joshua Thorson (portfolio), and former men's soccer midfielders Justin Erhunmwunsee (portfolio) and Jón Jóhannesson. Aranda's two pieces on display included "FLOWEE," a drone designed to disinfect one's home inspired by flowers indigenous to Mexico, and "KOCH," a series of projectors one could use to for personalized training on a basketball court.

Thorson was driven by the question, "How would NASA design their own watches?" and conceptualized a sleek and highly useful timepiece that could be used by both astronauts as well as the common person in his "NASA APOLLO" project.

"It was a great experience and, being a competitive person, seeing so much great work left me with an even stronger drive to work hard in my classes," said Thorson.

Erhumwunsee brought his passion for soccer to life with "RITMO," a soccer cleat that would sync with EA Sports' FIFA video game to allow users to review their gameplay and improve their skills. One of Jóhannesson's two pieces on display featured "Avoiding Mars Madness," a collaboration with midfielder David Sigurdarson and defender Connor Henrichs, two School of Web Design & New Media majors, integrating virtual reality and other products to help astronauts stay connected with their families on earth. The other, called "anon.", was a snowboarding helmet loaded with features like 360-degree video cameras designed to enhance the experience.

The School Communications & Media Technologies presented its annual live show at the venue along with a series of end-of-the-year awards highlighting several graduating student-athletes. Women's cross country/track & field's Beatriz Martinez Mercado (portfolio) was selected Best Undergraduate On Camera, baseball pitcher Chris Petrosie (portfolio) earned Best Undergraduate Producer (and subsequently handled COM's production at Spring Show), baseball outfielder Izac Bauer was awarded Best Undergraduate Editor, and volleyball outside hitter Bailey Soolsma (portfolio) took home the department's Achievement Award.

Women's golf freshmen Iveta Posledni and Anahi Servin had their architectural designs available for viewing and former women's tennis player Gabriela Rivas (portfolio) could be found in the School of Advertising section along with several other student-athletes.

Within Advertising, men's soccer had more representation with ARTYs Award for Men's Highest Individual GPA recipient forward Alexander Tombach's "Warby Parker Home Try-On" campaign (portfolio) that featured defender Timothy Sullivan as its model and midfielder Jordan Seech's two projects. Seech (portfolio) had his individual segment "Nike – Crush Your Fears" paired with a collaboration alongside men's golf alum Daniel Cosgrove entitled "Hulu – Hardcore Hulugans."

Senior middle blocker Margaret Winkler's welcoming presence drew on-lookers to her two displays, "Pandora - Release Your Emotions" and "Molten – You Are My Assist."  Also integrating other student-athletes such as men's golfer Jose Lopez Butron into her work, Winkler (portfolio) embraced her role as a student-athlete in her featured pieces.

"Having my work showcased in this year spring show meant a lot to me," said Winkler. "It was a year filled with a lot of memorable moments for me from finishing my volleyball career to graduation and then Spring Show. It always feels good when your work gets noticed. I needed that especially since I'm still trying to figure out my life after volleyball. I felt especially connected to 'Molten - You Are My Assist' because the idea and execution were inspired by my experience as a collegiate athlete."