CFCC’s Wilma W. Daniels Gallery Presents Serious/Play

Wilmington, NC (June 16, 2025) – Cape Fear Community College’s Wilma W. Daniels Gallery is proud to announce its latest exhibition, Serious/Play, opening Monday, June 16. A public reception will be held on June 27 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. as part of the Fourth Friday Gallery Nights. This exhibition will run through August 1, 2025.

Serious/Play is an exciting and immersive exhibition showcasing the creativity and innovation of students from CFCC’s Graphic Design and Simulation and Game Development programs. This dynamic show offers a vibrant mix of traditional graphic design, motion graphics, animation, illustration, process work, and interactive game experiences. Serious/Play invites visitors to explore the depth, variety, and imagination that fuels these creative programs. From polished designs to in-progress concepts to storyboards to fully playable games, this exhibit celebrates experimentation, exploration, and the serious art of play that overlaps with the professional world. Engaging, approachable, and down-to-earth, Serious/Play offers a fresh look at the next generation of visual storytellers and digital creators.

Graphic design and video game development thrive on creativity, storytelling, and problem-solving. Graphic design emphasizes visual clarity, identity, and composition, while game development blends visuals, sound, narrative, and code to create immersive experiences. Both disciplines rely on core design principles—balance, rhythm, contrast, hierarchy—and demand a strong grasp of color, typography, and user experience, along with fluency in digital tools like Adobe Creative Suite, 3D modeling, and prototyping software.

At their best, both fields balance structure with exploration. Serious/Play celebrates this duality: mastery of fundamentals paired with experimentation leads to the most dynamic work. Whether designing a brand or building a world, creators benefit from crossing disciplinary lines and embracing intuitive, iterative play.

This exhibit showcases the work of over 100 students from CFCC’s Graphic Design, Simulation and Game Development, and Economic Workforce & Development Training programs.

The Wilma W. Daniels Gallery is located at 200 Hanover Street, Wilmington, and is open Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To learn more about the Wilma W. Daniels Gallery, visit wilmadanielsgallery.com.