On Thursday, the George Caleb Bingham Gallery will be hosting the Foundations Showcase closing reception. It is a display of contemporary art featuring 2-D and 3-D design. The reception will be geared toward students and include free pizza, punch, soda and candy.

“This is work by beginning students with humble materials but spectacular results,” says Hannah Reeves, gallery director and adjunct professor of art. “We try to teach them designs and turn them into 2-D or 3-D designs and create something tangible.”

After taking a tour of the gallery, modern art is evident. There is everything from black and white drawings to a very comfortable-looking iPhone pillow. MU artists used all sorts of materials including wood, fabric, cushions, mirrors and even plastic bags.

One of the artists, senior Morgan Whitson, took a 3-D design class Reeves taught during the summer. Whitson was assigned to make a generally small object appear larger than it is in real life.

“I love knitting and decided to make a yarn ball,” Whitson says. “I made it out of fabric and Walmart bags that I stole from the recycling bins.”

Junior Shana Prusha was enrolled in a 3-D design class with instructor Mark Williams. The assignment was to make something of anamorphic design, a distorted projection or perspective using special devices to change or distort an image or cast shadows.

“I had seen sculptures with mirrors and how you could disfigure something through mirrors,” Prusha says. “I have a 4-year-old daughter who loves My Little Pony, so I included a pony in my art.”

Sophomore Sarah Leituala, another 3-D art student, made a black and white form of artwork.

“We weren’t allowed to use glue or anything like that that would make it stick together,” she says.

Leituala drew her inspiration from the viewpoint of a kid.

Freshman Sabreena Bub’s 2-D design assignment was based on the concept of wine.

“We had to print out some pictures of wine and glue them on our paper,” Bub says. “I looked up pictures and actually had trouble finding them. I found a tiger and a whale and came up with the concept of animals above water and below water.”

The gallery’s closing reception will be held on from 5-7 p.m. Thursday. It is a free event and will be located in the Fine Arts Building.