Today was this year's first Lunchtime Lecture! We heard from the perspectives of six students who already graduated from Maggie Walker, and some even from college, and who are majoring in art or the general art field. We had one student from MICA, four from VCU Arts, and one from UVA Architecture and I found it really interesting to hear their take on the experiences they've had. I found it funny how while some people went directly into art, others kinda wandered their way into the field such as Bailey, who had intended on pursuing politics, and Alex, who originally went to two community colleges before deciding to go to art school.
A common lesson that I heard that could be applied to not just the art world was that something that they all found most annoying was complaining from other people that was referred to at one point as "studio culture". Unfortunately, I think I would fall into this category of people as I have a tendency to express discontent with assignments and grades among other things. They stressed the importance of being grateful for what you have available to you as well as working hard instead of sitting back and making excuses for why something didn't turn out and I liked that attitude and approach to being faced with less-than-ideal circumstances. For example, instead of complaining about a grade a teacher gave you, avenging yourself by doing super well on the next assignment. Something else that stood out was that art stretched and challenged them in different ways and how that may have shifted their views on art in general. They shared frustrations with prompts as well as with classes and peers and how that has impacted their art and what they are able to make. I found it disappointing how about half of them mentioned that they felt restricted in such an institutionalized setting and I think that while the purpose of the school is to push you and force you to interact with thinks and people you might not normally, it shouldn't put you in a situation where you are so frustrated that you are no longer excited by art, as seems to be the case with Eli, who talked about how he was upset with the structure of the classes available. I was most interested by Bailey's experience at UVA Architecture for a few reasons: 1) I will be attending UVA next year, 2) my best friend is also going and will be doing UVA Architecture, and 3) he talked about how he like the creative outlet but how there were rules and guidelines that he had to cater towards. This appealed to me because the concept of art is so expansive that it can cover anything from a banana duct taped to a wall, to a massive monument installation that uses the history of the city in order to contribute to it's content and it seems almost overwhelming when being let loose to make and define whatever you want as art. I like the idea of having a form of creative expression but also having some foundation or footing of which to go off. I might consider this when going in the general direction of business. I had been thinking about being an advertising and marketing manager for a while but I think I would maybe want to be on the more analytical side? Actually, I'm not sure I kinda have a negative disposition towards math so not sure that would work out very well but I guess I would have to see the options available when studying at UVA and see the job market and pay as well as if I would enjoy doing it. Overall, I really liked this lecture as it gave different experiences from people who all essentially began in the same program I am currently in and it is just interesting to see where everyone ends up in life. Here are a couple links to art sites of a couple of the students who talked to us today: https://scaparo.weebly.com/ www.instagram.com/its_prettybent/
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AuthorNatalie Kim is a senior at MLWGS who likes to do art, take pics, and pet puppers. Archives
May 2020
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