Semester Reflections

Semester 3

I have learned and experienced a lot from art scholars. This entire semester was dedicated to the idea of how art can be used as a tool to reshape and recontextualize society. Many of the capstones I have seen surround this idea of educating and showing personal experience with social issues that the creator believes are important. Art is a tool that can be used to help spread awareness of problems, for example, my capstone is about desexualizing women. The mediums and techniques that you use can strengthen one's message, like using crochet which is often seen as a “women's” craft rather than an art form. Some of the theoretical models I have utilized to initiate my creative process for my capstone are the “Problem-Solving” model by Dr. Alex F. Osborn, the “Four-Stage Model” by Graham Wallas, and the concepts of immersion from my major class IMDM. I had to find a problem/social issue that I wanted to create that went off the concepts and ideas of what immersive media is.  The capstone was about and through preparation, I required the knowledge that I needed to understand the issues that I wanted. I also thought about how to really immerse my audience in my art and help them to understand my thought process behind the art. These models kept me organized and led me to verify my project when I completed the proposal. I also really appreciate the feedback I received from the video presentations and I received more materials that I could research and reference for my project. I think another way for people to receive more feedback is to create anonymous Google forms that people could fill out on their websites.

This year I am taking LGBT200 and we looked at a comic strip that shows two men practicing safe sex during the HIV/AIDS crisis. During this time the US government/CDC did not focus on safe sex, rather blaming the issue on the minority community like the LGBTQ+ community. This comic strip demonstrates how art can be used to teach and display certain ideas, like safe sex. The comic presents safe sex in a cool way that caters to its younger audience and also demonstrates how to create art for specific audiences. This class has taught me a lot about capturing the attention of the right audience for certain social movements. Through my capstone, I hope to bring these ideas to the Artscholars community and utilize the opportunities I have found within this community to encourage others to create art that speaks to their audience and inspires social change. While I sometimes wish I could participate more actively in the ArtScholar's community, such as joining the social media team, I am trying not to overextend myself with my classes and other commitments. I also feel like my excitement and activity in the community have been dampened as many of my previous friends in the program have either graduated or left. It can be difficult to connect to others in already pre-established groups because it feels like I’m intruding. 

Despite these challenges, Artscholars has enlightened me to new concepts and ideas. A big thing has been learning about different cultures like West African style drumming and going to the National Museum of the American Indian. Experiencing cultural diversity in education broadens one's perspective and fosters a greater understanding and appreciation of the world. My favorite experience was exploring the National Museum of the American Indian by myself and taking my time learning about the different exhibits. One of the exhibits showed the work of DY Begay and her work in textiles/tapestries. It was really cool to see her creative process and see how she takes inspiration from the landscapes around her. These experiences have expanded my understanding of how art reflects diverse histories, traditions, and perspectives, showing me the powerful role creativity plays in fostering cross-cultural connections and dialogue.

Next semester, I am looking forward to working in one of the workshops, experiencing new art forms and cultures, and continuing to work on my capstone project.