Semester Reflections

Overall, Arts Scholars has taught me a lot that I would have never learned if it was not for the program. By creating my EPortfolio, I was able to learn how to update and manage a workable website. I focused on keeping the theme cohesive so that every page flowed together nicely. I also made sure to crop the images in the correct way so that the pictures and the text looked good together. 

Arts Scholars has also changed my perception of art by broadening what I view as art. Before this course, I did not partake in many art forms besides painting and drawing. Through Arts Scholars, there were many opportunities through Maker Mixers and guest artists to widen what I view as art. One of my favorite classes was first semester freshman year where we took part in vogue dancing. I had never tried dancing as an art form before what have always been interested in it. The vogue dancing class introduced me to dance and how unique of an art form it is. Another way that my perception of art was redefined was during Arts Fest last spring. When I was a freshman looking at all the capstone projects, I was intrigued by all the different ways that people took the capstone project. It was interesting to get inspired for my project the next year and also see all the different social issues that people in Arts Scholars are passionate about. 

My capstone project drew upon what I learned throughout the two years by creating a project that relates to a broader issue. In Arts Scholars, I learned a lot about the background of different art works and why they were created. My project drew on this by specifically focusing on the social issue of Women's safety. For my project, I also use skills learned from being a social media assistant for the program to advertise my survey to different groups of people. My project also needed a lot of time management where I focused on using time boxing a strategy of time management that I learned in this program. 

As I mentioned before, Arts Scholars expanded my creative ability and interests through wanting to be more involved in dancing and learning to love the art of dance. With dance, I also enjoyed the dancing workshop performance from last spring. This workshop opened my eyes to other people who never danced and because of Arts Scholars began to dance. Through my capstone project, I deepened my exhibiting artistic talents and interests by creating a purpose behind my artwork. Prior to my capstone project, most of my artwork did not have meaning behind it. From Arts Scholars, I was able to connect social issues with art to create an even deeper piece. This grew my existing interest since now my artwork had a meaning behind it instead of just being beautiful art. 

Arts Scholars opened my eyes up to a bunch of different artists that hold diverse perspectives. Through arts scholars, I was able to converse with people who may have had differing opinions than me and discuss our different views on art. One example of this was during the end of year exhibition fall semester freshman year. Our TA group had to think of a name for our project that connected all of our artworks together. At this time, many people had differing pieces and ideas for what they wanted to title to be. From Arts Scholars, we had already learned how to have a civil conversation with different options, and we were eventually able to come to a title to combined everyone's piece together.

Arts Scholars will definitely hold a place in my heart for the rest of my life. It was a place for me to get away from the struggles of college and focus on creating art; something that I have always enjoyed. In my future, I hope to continue taking part in art whether it be creating, going to shows, or attending museum trips. I also think the time management that I learned from Arts Scholars will also come with me for the rest of my life. A full semester capstone project was a challenging endeavor but the time management that I had kept me organized and made sure that I got everything done in time. Also, as an architecture major, there will always be a connection to art and design. With Arts Scholars, I was able to collaborate effectively with people who have differing artist views which is something I can also use in the field of Architecture. Overall, these past two years have been extremely enjoyable, and I cannot thank Arts Scholars enough for keeping art in my life.