Ashley Anike Herndon’s art debuted at 2026 Billboard Bash, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Houston, Texas. | Luis Diego Gonzalez/The Cougar

UH hosted the 2026 Billboard Bash on April 2, celebrating the debut of “Starship” by MFA student Ashley Anika Herndon. The event marked the first time a student-created piece has been featured on the campus billboard, and the first selected through a student voting system. 

According to the curator of Public Art for the University of Houston system Michael Guidry, the project reflects a new curatorial direction for the billboard project, which has existed since 2020. The shift places emphasis on student involvement in both the selection process and engagement with public art.

“It’s not just walking around and seeing the work but also learning about how it’s made, how we select the artist, really demystifying the process,” Guidry said.

Full-time students were invited to vote from a selection of 5 finalists for the billboard project, and Herndon’s piece received more than 32% of the vote.

“We wanted to make it democratic so that the whole community would have a voice in the art instead of us making the decisions all the time,” Guidry said. 

Herndon celebrates “Starship” as a piece for the UH community but also a reflection of her broader practices and artistic upbringing. Growing up as a military kid, she said art became a form of stability as she frequently moved. Themes of space and universal exploration appear in “Starship” as a way to describe Herndon’s internal reflections.

“We are all sitting on this big rock that’s hurling through space, so it gives us this community here on earth,” Herndon said. “I’m constantly thinking about the moon, stars, planets, starships and all that comes through in my work.”

For “Starship,” Herndon combined existing pieces in a form of digital collage using various artistic software. She also made certain choices to help integrate the piece into the campus space.

“I really wanted it to be site-specific,” Herndon said. “UH students have a hustle about them. I often see them running to class, so I wanted those geometric shapes to be sharp and colorful. I also incorporated red in my piece to integrate it into that UH color scheme.”

Yogita Pal, a recent materials science PhD graduate student who attended the Billboard Bash, says her studies in the STEM field also parallel the artistic work of Herndon.

“I see science as an art,” Pal said. “If you really do it with all your heart, your science flows so well. Otherwise, it will not work. Like the artist’s heart has to be involved in their work, the scientist’s heart has to be involved as well.”

Suman Rai, a third-year biology and biochemistry doctoral student, says the piece resonated with her interpretation of growth and progress. 

“When I first saw this billboard, the first thing I saw was the small ladder in the piece showing that we are climbing somewhere,” Rai said. “I see that I’m stepping up on that ladder, slowly, and there is a starship and I am going somewhere. The girl in front of the ladder feels like celebrating a victory and that there is an end goal.”

Herndon’s intention with the billboard was for viewers to slow down and understand the person they are becoming. It was important for her that the artwork read quickly, almost like a logo in its simplicity and abstract design.

“This is an incredibly pivotal moment for students, so I wanted to remind people of this incredible person that they’re becoming at UH or any college campus,” Herndon said. “While you’re literally running to class, you can see the piece and remind yourself that ‘I’m a person that’s transforming, I’m a person that’s changing, I’m a person that’s approaching something new’.”

news@thedailycougar.com