BOZEMAN — The first time someone was moved to tears looking at one of his paintings, Montana State University student Jack Schnepf realized his chosen career was about far more than selling art.  

Schnepf, a senior studio arts major in MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture, said it was enough to know the fellow artist felt healed and seen by the painting, which is a self-portrait that captures how he let go of anxiety and gained compassion for his younger self. Titled “You Did Your Job, Thank You,” the painting now hangs in a Big Sky gallery. 

“It sounds very corny to say, ‘I want my art to change the world,’ so I’m not going to say that,” said Schnepf, who will graduate on Friday, Dec. 12. “But I do see my portion of the world changing through the work I make.” 

The power of art became evident when Schnepf was in eighth grade in Snoqualmie, Washington, and was diagnosed with a life-threatening autoimmune disease called eosinophilic esophagitis. He threw up nearly 60 times a day for months and couldn’t walk far without fainting, traveling to the emergency room every few days to receive liquids.  

Then, he picked up a pencil.  

Doodling in a sketchbook made him feel like he was improving, and it became a tool to keep him from “rotting away” while recovering, Schnepf said. He manages his chronic disease with a particular diet and stress regulation. When Schnepf began accepting commissions from clients in his senior year of high school, including one campaign where his art raised $2,500 for charity, he realized his work could positively impact other people as well as be a refuge for him.  

Transforming painful experiences into beauty became the subject of his senior thesis display in MSU’s Helen E. Copeland Gallery in Haynes Hall this week, one of more than 25 shows to feature his work in the U.S. and in Italy since he arrived at MSU in 2022. He has been a part of nine shows hosted by MSU.  

Schnepf’s six-piece thesis series required hours of preparation this semester and meant revisiting difficult childhood experiences: For the times he switched schools growing up due to bullying, he brushed dark shadows across one painting. For each time he threw up during eighth grade, he etched a tally mark onto the background of another.  

“I found art’s ability for translation,” said Schnepf, who came to MSU for its balance of the outdoors and academics, as well as the expanding opportunities for artists in the Gallatin Valley. “Beyond words, you can feel those experiences through painting. That’s my favorite thing.” 

Translating complex concepts with art was central to his artist residency at MSU’s Quantum Collaborative Research and Education facility, or QCORE, this year. The research facility studies quantum technology and addresses challenges in the computing sector. Schnepf became QCORE’s first artist in residence last year after approaching its CEO and director, Jayne Morrow, who he met through his career coach at MSU.  

In his role with QCORE, Schnepf helps with events and administrative tasks. He also discusses complex topics with physicists and uses what he learns to create paintings that help tour groups understand quantum concepts. His piece “The Shape of Uncertainty,” for example, represents how light works as both a wave and a particle. It shows a herd of running horses that appears to be a singular animal from a distance, but individual horses take shape the closer a viewer stands to the painting.  

The piece, which hangs in QCORE and in his thesis show, is also freckled with white dots, which visitors press onto the painting with chalk. Schnepf said about 2,000 people have seen the painting, from government directors and CEOs of quantum technology companies to visitors from Asia and Europe.  

“I’ve never seen a CEO of a 300-person company more scared of adding one dot on a painting, thinking they’ll ruin it,” he said, laughing. “It really removes egos and helps people immerse themselves in the concepts.”  

Visitors also take home a small print of the painting. Schnepf said he hopes they help visitors associate quantum with Montana and form a positive memory.  

“Lab environments can often feel stark or uninviting,” Morrow said. “Jack’s presence sort of disarms people. It feels more approachable and accessible when they’re greeted with a piece of art and an artist, like they can understand quantum in their own way.”  

Schnepf said his classes at MSU elevated his work, improving his ability to seek feedback from experts and helping him find ways to grow through discomfort. Studying abroad in Italy with the School of Art last year, he said, was certainly out of his comfort zone and the first time he traveled to another continent. However, he found community with fellow artists and ended long days in the studio by chatting with them for hours. 

The students spent six weeks in Sicily after studying art across the country during their spring semester abroad. They painted a mural on a 93-year-old soccer stadium in Sicily, analyzed fragile frescoes in Pompeii and gave class presentations in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Regina Gee, art history professor and program coordinator for the trip, said Schnepf was meticulous during class visits to museums and archaeological sites.  

“I would always find him sitting somewhere drawing in the museum. He was just utterly absorbed,” she said.  

Schnepf’s experiences will lead him down one of several paths after graduation, with most located in Bozeman, he said. He will create a ceiling painting for a local client and a piece for QCORE’s lobby while exploring collaborative opportunities locally and on the East Coast. 

“A goal of mine has been, ‘How can you have your foot in the door before you graduate?’” he said. “I’m excited to walk through the door now that I’ve opened it.”