DANI WALTERS

Digital Media Department

4

2020

Paint on Canvas with Paper and Fabric Flowers

3 ft x 2.5 ft

4. 4 quarters in a school year. 4 years at Dreyfoos. 4 times I would think I’d found myself and later found myself surely mistaken. 4 million times I would find myself questioning whether or not I was making the right decisions. My 4 years at Dreyfoos ended up being defined by 4 distinct but somewhat cohesive canvases. Freshman year is represented by the top left canvas, sophomore year is represented by the top middle canvas, junior year is represented by the bottom middle canvas, and senior year is represented by the bottom right canvas.

Freshman year was a period of time I found myself fumbling to make work. In my head, the things I made at the time seemed childish and clumsy. My thoughts and ideas for bodies of work kept clashing and falling apart. At some point they came together to make something uneven that struggled to define itself. I was trying to take the different parts of my life and merge them together without taking the time to assess whether or not I still connected with those different parts. This clumsy nature I tried to bring through in the wonky proportions and construction of my flowers. A bunch of small things trying to fit together in a way that doesn’t really yield for something I was happy with. The daisy shape references their symbolism of innocence and new beginnings.

My sophomore year attempted to mimic my previous year of old interests and a range of diverse, clashing work but there was a thin veil over it that I did not see until later. I found myself trying to fake things a little more, making my photography seem a little bit nicer, a little bit more Instagram worthy. I found myself caught up in trying to make work that would appeal to other people and didn’t spend enough time making work that appealed to myself. This thin layer of looking like the work of someone else seemed to lay on top of most of my sophomore year work and, in all honesty, I can not look at much of that work anymore. This fake feeling I felt was embodied in the cheap, plastic flowers I had laying around from that year. Carnations can also symbolize deep love and admiration as well as rejection or regret.

Junior year for me took many turns. I slowly began making more physical and tactile work again and I wanted to incorporate that into my AP 2D portfolio. There was a lot going on at the beginning of the year in terms of my friendships with other people and I did not know what to make work of at that point. I started making my work about other people as a way of avoiding what I didn’t want to necessarily confront, which was my relationship with myself. For a long time I had used taking care of others as a reason not to take care of myself. Through a lot of crying in the photo room and working in the studio, I was able to develop my concentration into something that helped me work through my loss of dance and helped me work around my injuries. I found myself branching out more, a motif I tried to bring into my junior year canvas. Water lilies also are symbols of resurrection.

Senior year is where I uprooted everything. I took everything I previously knew about myself, my relationships, and my work and threw everything out the window. It was rough, I won’t lie. I spent a lot of my time at Dreyfoos trying to fix and keep the old alive and didn’t give myself the energy to spend growing something new. I realized about a month in that I couldn’t keep doing that. This year was characterized the most by evolution in my eyes and not necessarily as much growth. I focused on the things that made me happy, not just what made others happy. This cluster of confidence manifested itself into magnolias, which symbolize dignity and nobility.

Dear Class of 2020 ...

For a long time I felt disconnected from you guys. I realized this year it was because I was disconnected from myself. When I came to Dreyfoos, it was a fresh start. I was the only one from my middle school to attend the school of the arts and most of my middle school friends went to Wellington or Suncoast. I didn’t realize how much that would affect me. In the times I spent attempting to maintain my old friendships, I did not take the time to really attempt to connect with you guys for a long time.

This year I basically upended everything I knew previously about myself. I basically took everything and threw it out the window. Most of those friendships at other schools and some even here at Dreyfoos fell apart and I realized I didn’t necessarily need to rely on them like I thought I had to. I had always waited for people to approach me or for others to introduce me to new people. I never really branched out because I never really felt the need to when I had people that I talked to. I never stopped to ask myself if I was really enjoying the time I was having.

Senior year started off being simultaneously the worst and best year of my life. I burned a decent amount of bridges, I won’t deny that, but the ones I’ve built this year are the best that I have ever constructed. I think once I let go of things that were holding me back, I realized I was stronger and a lot different than I had previously believed. It is a lot easier to breathe when I don’t have to carry around a lot of the things I used to think I had to. I realized that I had to make my wellbeing a priority and that doing that did not mean I was neglecting others. I had to make choices that made me vulnerable and that took some people out of my life. Although I am sad to see them go, I do not regret my decisions. I hope that if you find yourself in a similar spot, you are able to make the choice that will bring you the most comfort in your decision.

I had so much fun during my senior year at Dreyfoos and I never expected it to come to such a fiery end. There were still a lot of things I had wanted to do. I was so excited for prom and graduation and the Senior Show and all of the other senior activities. I never expected for those dates in my calendar to pass by as I sat in front of my computer and on my patio working from home. I feel like I was somehow cheated out of something. I know that’s a salty way to look at this but find myself longing for my 30 minute drive to school in the morning and difficult dance classes and being in Building 9. So because I wasn’t able to say some thank yous that I wasn’t able to give in person.

To Mrs. G: Thank you for being the best mentor I have ever had. Your unrelenting support and feedback has sent me farther than I ever thought I would go. Thank you for teaching me a variety of different types of art making and ways of exploration. I don’t think I can ever accurately sum up how much you’ve impacted my life and my outlook going forward. Thank you for showing me positivity and hope can still exist even when things aren’t looking the greatest and for teaching me as much as I could learn from you in my 4 years at Dreyfoos. Thank you for letting me jump in on classes when I got to school early and thank you for engaging me in all of my ideas and endeavors. You taught me as much about myself as you did about animation. I am grateful to have had such an inspiring teacher to have had for all of my years at this school. Despite all of the chaos this quarter while being at home for virtual classes, I am so glad the book is still a source of positivity for all of us.

To Ms. Van Reeth: Thank you for all of the opportunities you have presented me with while I have been at Dreyfoos. From the intersections to Collective Impact, I am grateful to have been selected for such opportunities and to say that I did my best in all of them. Thank you for showing me the wonders of Art History and that a good pen will be your best friend. Thank you.

To Ms. Jahn: I was never an actual student of yours but you took me under your wing as if I was, and I will forever appreciate that. Thank you for hyping me up whenever I had prints and zines to show you, and for always giving me a place to work during lunch if your room was open. Thank you for trusting me and supporting me despite being an odd one out.

To the Dreyfoos Dance Department: Mrs. Lescaille, Mr. Lewis, and Ms. Lewis. Thank you all for accepting Samantha and I into your classes and allowing us to experience an amazing variety of masterclasses. I will miss dancing under your instruction, even if it was just for one year.

To the rest of the Building 9 Staff I have worked with: Mr. Fehre, Mr. Delgado, and Mrs. Prince. Thank you for your unwavering support. I hope to see you all again.

To Jules Ha: Thank you for listening to me and supporting me throughout it all. You have been a constant presence by my side this year and I appreciated every second of it. I will miss our 6th period print talks and our parking lot podcast. For being my artist market singing duo and for approving all of my Senior Book designs, I’ll always remember to Facetime you to wake you up for virtual Art History.

To Jillian Tarini: My favorite sailing senior (aka the only other regular sailing senior but if there were more you’d still be my favorite), thank you for getting me hooked on an activity I was kind of weary of at the beginning. I honestly don’t know what I would be without sailing at this point and I am always so happy to go to club whenever I can. Thank you for sailing the cat with my dad and I and putting up with my family’s antics. I hope we have opportunities to sail together again before the fall and I hope we can compete against each other at some point. :)

To Priska Lambert: Thank you for supporting me and for being someone I enjoyed seeing in the halls. Talking to you always brightened my days with your baking and pink hair. I am going to miss seeing you around, but I will always send you froggie memes and my latest commentary on Dollightful’s newest projects. I can’t wait to see what you do at Cornell.

To the Senior Book Design Team: Thank you guys for putting up with my antics and the evolution of my ideas. This book is certainly something different from the original idea and I am so appreciative of all of the support you guys have given my page designs and ideas. Especially with my random appearances in Mrs. Jahn’s room to get your feedback on ideas. Lee Tew and Nicole Dicola: My frequent rays of sunshine! You guys are a dynamic duo I can’t wait to watch grow into even more amazing artists. Jakey Stew: Thank you for making long working 6th periods sorting photos feel a lot easier. It has been amazing to see your art change and grow all year. Elizabeth Searles: The silent storm. I am so excited to see what you do and thank you for being the catalyst and backbone of such an amazing book.

To the Senior Book Staff: We did it! Despite it all, the book is done.

To the Digital Seniors: Despite being one of the smaller departments, I’d like to think we make a sizable impact. I’m going to miss all of you guys, even if we weren’t that close. Thank you for showing me that photography is so much more than I used to believe it could be and that talking to others isn't as scary as I used to think it was.

To all of the Seniors: Our time together was cut short. In hindsight, it is sad to think that I left school on March 13th and didn’t take time to say goodbye to everyone, but at the time I don’t think any of us could have predicted this. I didn’t realize how many people I truly connected with from a variety of different majors until now. I hope we will all be able to see each other again, and this time I will actually talk to people first.

If you got through this whole thing, thank you too. I’m going to end this off with a quote that stuck me for my 4 years (and before anyone calls me out, yes it’s from an anime): “Because people don’t have wings, they look for ways to fly.” Thank you to Dreyfoos for teaching me how to fly.

Thank you again to the Dreyfoos Dance Department for allowing me to photograph their rehearsals for their fall show Multiplicity. These images are some of my favorites and I am forever indebted to the department. Thank you for all of the opportunities you have given me and for allowing me to dance with you for the year as well. I am beyond grateful.

Thank you to the Music Departments as well for allowing me to photograph their dress rehearsal for Prism, as well as Impromptu and the Vocal Senior Showcase. These events diversified my portfolio greatly and gave me new experiences.

Biomuseo in Panama (2018)

Intersection: Round 2! (2019)

Cleveland Institute of Art Precollege Photography Program (2019)

Freshman Year - Intersection Number One

DEAR CLASS OF 2021

I’ll keep this one shorter for you guys. For those that don’t know me, my name is Dani and I am a lot of things. I am a Digital Media senior. I can procrastinate but I will also be on top of things that I enjoy working on, like art and design. I am an extroverted introvert and spent hundreds of hours in Building 9. I also spent a lot of time at Dreyfoos in fear of my peers and their opinions. For a long time, I didn’t think I fit in with those around me. I realized this year it was because I wasn’t myself, I was trying to be someone else. Don’t do that to yourself.

If there is one thing I am glad I did it was finding a way of managing my time and organizing my schedule that worked for me. Don't overload your senior year with AP courses. Get on top of your college apps and essays once CommonApp opens for the fall, but don’t get caught up in the Dreyfoos freight train that is college competition. You will hear stories from upperclassmen this year and your peers next year about them applying to 10+ schools. I applied to 4. I saved myself a lot of time and money on applications by weeding out a lot of the colleges I didn’t really want to go to and ones that I didn’t feel it was necessary to apply to. I didn’t want to go to an ivy league so I didn’t apply to one. Don’t feel like you HAVE to apply to places just because everyone else is. I was able to narrow down my choices and what college was best for me very easily because of it. Don't be afraid to pursue something outside of what you did at Dreyfoos too. I am currently heading to UCF for Aerospace Engineering, something completely different from what I studied at DSOA.

Take advantage of all of the opportunities you have as a senior. Talking to portfolio reviewers can help you talk out senior piece ideas and it also helps you build relationships with people that may be able to help you with scholarships when acceptances come out. Set up a spot for portfolio day, even if you don’t plan on pursuing art. I think having a spot to talk to underclassmen was really beneficial because I was able to connect with a bunch of Digital Media freshmen I had seen around. They now talk to me about their art and reach out to me for feedback and critiques. I am glad I am able to be the kind of upperclassman to them that I looked up to while at Dreyfoos. I still keep in touch with a lot of the graduated students from previous years to get feedback on art. Don’t be afraid to reach out to me either.

When you get the chance you should build a website. Google sites is a really good free website building resource and you can get domains from GoDaddy for about $15 A YEAR. That’s just over a dollar a month (that is so cheap) and you can literally spend a day making your website and then you’re done. You can then use that to send to portfolio reviewers and colleges or potential gigs! I have to update mine but it is nice to have something that is mine and represents all portions of my work.

I will end this with just a few things. I hope you take risks. I hope you find yourself in some semblance of a way. I hope you take some time to step back and breathe because senior year flies by. I can’t say there is a lot that I wish I HAD done. I spent a lot of time focused on making work that I enjoyed and taking care of myself. It is important to establish a reset routine for yourself, especially as college gets closer, because you need to be able to take care of yourself when things get rough. Find activities outside of your major and your schoolwork to help change things up too. I sailed on the weekends with the DSOA club, taught dance, and attended open volleyball times at the rec center. These things helped me reset myself and set me up to productive again once Monday came. Do not feel like you have to be productive all the time. Sit down and relax and just do nothing if you need to. It took me a long time to learn how to do that.

I want you guys to know that it will all be okay. Chaos has a way of weaving itself into portions of life you didn’t expect to find it and I hope that you can use the art you make to find closure in some things. Don’t be afraid to make yourself a priority. It took me a long time to figure that out and I wish I had sooner. I found myself caught up in toxic relationships and friendships and couldn’t find a way out. Do not be afraid to end things if you find yourself struggling to breathe one day. It will do you more good in the long run, even if things are tough for a bit. Things will be okay. I know that sounds tacky but trust me.

So have fun senior year. Do all of the things you never thought you could. I never thought I’d be able to sing at an open mic night but I did! I am so glad I was able to do something like that. Find what makes you happy and keep growing. Things will change quickly, but again, you'll be okay. Again, don't be afraid to reach out if you ever need to talk or want feedback on art.

With lots of love,

Daniela (Dani) Walters

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