From studio to storefront

When Megan Murphy visited the Flint Hills Discovery Center with her grandparents as a child, she learned about the colors in the hills of the heartland and made a lasting family memory.

Now, as a senior in fine arts at Kansas State University, Murphy is leaving her mark on the museum and making memories with fellow Wildcats through an interdisciplinary applied learning project with the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

Purposeful publishing meets regional promotion

Murphy is part of K-State's Spot Fire Press, a collaborative publishing initiative where undergraduate students from across disciplines create limited-edition prints, zines, posters and wearables. The press is an experiential learning opportunity that empowers students to publish with purpose.

Rooted in transdisciplinary learning, the Spot Fire Press projects unite art, writing, science and design to produce community-connected editions.

The Flint Hills Discovery Center — a local organization that celebrates the region's natural and cultural heritage — was looking for just the kind of community connection that Spot Fire Press prides itself on, so it was a natural step when center staff reached out to Jason Scuilla, K-State art professor and Spot Fire Press faculty mentor, for the two entities to work together.

Center staff members Stephen Bridenstine, director, Penny Cullers, gift store coordinator and Mary Hildreth, guest services and membership manager, shared with Scuilla the desire for the center's retail products to be local, too. That led to an exciting internship for three students through the Spot Fire Press.

Murphy and fellow Wildcats Alexa Murray, senior in fine arts, Olathe, and Corinne Armbruster, junior in English, St. Louis, Missouri, were tasked with creating a custom shirt featuring native Kansas flowers for the Flint Hills Discovery Center's retail space.

Students get firsthand experience bringing regional product to market

Using initial concepts provided by the center, the students began the design and publishing process. Murphy and Murray both created designs for the shirt, and after multiple rounds of edits and feedback, Murray's plant root system design — featuring the compass plant, a coneflower, Indian grass, little bluestem and switch grass, all native to Kansas — was selected for the project.

Murphy valued the project's flexibility, noting that, unlike previous structured assignments, she enjoyed independently managing and guiding the project.

"I haven't really had that experience of setting up projects and working with clients, like setting the scope and determining all of the communication that happens while working on a project," she said. "I like the freedom that comes with that, and getting experience on the other side of working on these projects gave me more confidence in that area."

While Murphy and Murray worked on the design process, Armbruster used her creative writing skills to collaborate with them and help the center develop marketing taglines for potential products for the retail space. Her taglines were all alliterative combinations that emphasized caring for wildlife while maintaining respect for prairie animals in Kansas.

After center staff approved the final design, Murray prepared the artwork and hand-carved her design into a linoleum block. From there, the students printed the first 35 shirts through the Spot Fire Press for a preorder campaign in the center's lobby.

"I'm really excited for people to see the care and love and passion that I put into the block," Murray said. "I think it would be awesome to eventually see somebody wearing it around town."

Applied learning benefits students and community

Spot Fire Press received an Applied Learning Experiences grant in 2025 to help provide students with creative publishing opportunities. With the grant, the organization was able to purchase printmaking and publishing tools and equipment, making a project like custom shirt creation possible.

Hildreth said this project provided students with real-world experience working directly with a retailer — from product development and design refinement to understanding wholesale pricing and fulfillment.

"It's a meaningful, hands-on learning opportunity that mirrors the full lifecycle of bringing a product to market," she said.

This authentic experience gives students a true understanding of processes they may have only learned about so far in the classroom. Through internship projects like the collaboration with the Flint Hills Discovery Center, K-State students have the opportunity to put their classroom knowledge to the test, develop deeper skill sets for future success, and make valuable connections to their community and industry partners.

The students aren't the only ones benefitting, though. Hildreth said the collaboration with K-State students has a strong appeal to guests of the Flint Hills Discovery Center, too.

"These students are creating a unique item that supports emerging talent while offering something exclusive in our retail space that represents the region," she said. "Our merchandise extends our mission and tells the story of our region."

As K-State students help the center tell that story through their shirt design and marketing, they are also writing another story: their own. As they continue their studies, these interns know that the experience working with the Flint Hills Discovery Center is an important chapter in their journey toward the future.

Crafting a shirt, charting a career

Murray, who graduates in May, shared that the internship helped her gain confidence in project and client management, and it confirmed her interest in handmade printing.

Because of this project, she is now exploring printing presses in the Kansas City area.

"The fact that I was able to get this internship — and that I became so passionate about it — has just been so cool," Murray said. "I really appreciated that I was able to get this experience and take it further and realize that it's something that I love so much."

For Murphy, the applied learning experience renewed her interest in pursuing a career as a freelance artist and showed her that kind of future was possible with the skills she sharpened through the project with the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

Armbruster says the experience has impacted her future career outlook greatly.

"It showed me that there is a place for creative writing and literature within other art mediums," she said. "I will be considering more creative opportunities when my job search begins."

By the beginning of the summer, 70 shirts will have been created for sale in the retail space, and there are plans for K-State students to create and print more products for the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

The shirts that Murphy, Murray and Armbruster produced will be available for purchase soon at the center.

"Our students poured real care and craft into the design, and I'm incredibly proud of what they created," Scuilla said. "The way our students, faculty mentors and community partners all came together was genuinely exciting. It showed the momentum and possibility behind this program. This partnership is a great example of how campus creativity can move into the community in a meaningful and visible way."