All-American Iowa gymnast honors his team’s legacy with a graphic design galley

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - When he learned the 2021 season would be Iowa men’s gymnastics’ last, Evan Davis said he was hurt.

“For a long time there was a lot of hate towards the university and people who are responsible for the decision making,” Davis, an Iowa senior, said.

But Davis soon had a change of heart. The graphic design major had one more season to finish, and a senior project to start.

“When I first started the first couple brainstorming ideas I really wanted show that we were betrayed,” he said. “But as I started researching the program, there was nothing but love.”

In the fall of 2021, the Iowa men’s gymnastics team had its final season, and Davis - along with teammate Bennet Huang - became Iowa’s final All-Americans.

The legacy of the team lives on in room E-450 in the Iowa Visual Arts Building, with Davis’ senior project.

Davis says just like in gymnastics, graphic design is about improvement and reaching new heights.

“Each project I’ve been doing, I’ve tried to get grander and bigger and see how far I can push myself,” Davis said. “That’s something that I’ve really learned from gymnastics. That dedication, the grind and knowing how to keep pushing myself until I find out what my limit is.”

The project celebrates the team, from its earliest days, to its final season. It will be taken down on Saturday, March 26th, at 10:00 pm, but the team’s legacy lives on in the GymACT, a non-NCAA organization for college gymnastics teams.

As for Davis, he’ll still be setting a high bar.

“That’s kind of what this project was,” Davis said. “Figuring out how far I could push it, one step further, I still feel like I have room to grow.”

Copyright 2022 KCRG. All rights reserved.