As Terri McGaffin looks at the body of work senior art students have completed for their senior thesis, the passion for art radiates from her. She looks around with a wide smile on her face and the feeling of pride of how well the students have done. Her calm exterior doesn’t do the art justice for what she’s truly feeling inside.

She glances at different pieces in the gallery and is noticeably amazed by the different students’ creative spirits. When she spots a giant ceramic and wire hand, she’s taken aback saying, “Like that giant hand. What? Where did that come from?”

Terri McGaffin’s long, storied time at Morningside College as Chair of the Art Department and professor of numerous courses will close this spring after five years. Morningside College and its students will forever be held close to her heart for she is grateful for her experiences here.

The students of the art department are no stranger to McGaffin or her works either. Shane Roeder, a senior, graphic design student at Morningside, expressed the value McGaffin adds to the art department, (sound bite).

Her journey to become Chair began in 1990 as an adjunct professor for a drawing class at Morningside. After she went back to school for her masters and taught a couple years at South Dakota State University, McGaffin applied for an open position as a full-time professor for drawing and painting at Morningside. The decision to come back led to her to take the job of Chair of the Art Department in 2013 in the place of John Bowitz.

The decision to step down from Chair of the Art Department was anything but easy for McGaffin, (sound bite).

Students throughout the department were wretched when the announcement of McGaffin’s retirement came out. Abby Koch, a sophomore, graphic design and mass communications student at Morningside, stated her feelings of McGaffin’s departure, (sound bite).

Roeder and Ben Hieb, a sophomore, graphic design and photography student at Morningside, also gave their thoughts on McGaffin’s retirement, (sound bite).

Her passion for art and teaching will not end when the job does though, rather remain an instrumental part of her life. McGaffin plans to come full circle with her career by becoming an adjunct professor again at Morningside and continuing her art. She wants to dive back into her art by creating more and having her art featured in more galleries in the area.