Semester 4

Arts TRYathlon #1: Choose Your Own Adventure

2-12-25, McKeldin Mall, Epic Snow Day

#visualart, #imersiveart

Snow days bring out my inner child, and I think it is the same for other people too. I haven’t had a true snow day since my freshman year of high school, so I was ecstatic when I saw the forecast for five to eight inches of snow in the middle of the week. It was peaceful watching the snow cascade down and pile up outside of my window Tuesday afternoon. After the sunset, I could hear people laughing and having snowball fights on McKeldin Mall. I chose to cuddle up that night with some tea and Avatar the Last Airbender. But, the next day I decided to build a snowman with my friends.

Snow is a free medium to create sculptures with (the only price is a cold nose and wet gloves). When my friends and I got to McKeldin mall on Wednesday afternoon, there were already dozens of snow-people littering the green. There were massive snowmen that clearly took a coordinated team effort to build, and there were small snowmen perched on the side barriers. My friends and I ended up creating a snow-woman named we Veronica Snowyer. Creating the snow-woman with my friends reminded me of the drumming workshop we did in scholars. Everyone worked together with the same tools, but used their different skill sets to create a unique piece of art. This semester is off to a great start with snow days, and I know a few more creative storms are brewing.

Arts TRYathlon #2: Choose Your Own Adventure

1-31-25, 9:30 Club, Recession Pop

#dance, #music

This dance party was filled with people expressing themselves, hanging out with friends, and making new friends. This was a massive stretch for my comfort zone as an introvert. I am trying more loud and interactive things in college, and art scholars has definitely helped me find a comfortable place to explore those things. The field trips to experimental performances and in class workshops like learning to vogue dance and play African drums, gave me a chance to test the waters by trying new things that are a stark contrast to my everyday life. The theme was "Recession Pop," which was mostly just y2k music I grew up listening to. There were a lot of older gen-z and millennials, but it was a welcoming community of people dressed in early 2000’s fashion. The theme gave a general direction to the music, but the club seemed undecorated for it.

There was a corner in the club that held CD albums of every artist that played there since the club opened in the 1980’s. It was a cool sliver of history that my friends and explored. The older albums were very unique, but starting post 2019, the CD cases became the same blue color, which is probably because artists stopped making CD albums since they are expensive and streaming platforms reach more listeners. Physical art has definitely changed as people move to the digital age, but it is still imperative to have physical copies just in case the internet collapses (a y2k bug pun for you).

Arts TRYathlon #3: Arts Scholars Event

2-21-25, Bel Air Lounge, Rockin' Pets

#visualart, #artsandcrafts

For my final TRYathalon I made a few rock pets. I made an M&M with a bite taken out of it, the rock from Over the Garden Wall, and a frog. I went to this event without my usual art scholar friends, and it was super fun to meet new people. I think crafting around people fosters a pure and welcoming culture. I chatted with a majority of freshmen at the table and gave them advice for some of the classes I took last year. We joked around, and, even though we were acquaintances at the beginning of the session, by the end of the hour we were talking like old friends. It was also nice to catch up with the TA running the event, Vanessa, who was in the same workshop as me last spring. This event definitely cemented the idea planted by art scholars that art can foster a community.

Painting the rocks also reminded me of the time my family painted “kindness rocks” and spread them throughout the community. They were very popular on my mom’s facebook feed, and we would go on little scavenger hunts to find them around our county. I remember seeing them outside the library and parks, and it always brought me joy to see the different designs on the rocks. Its such a simple arts and crafts project that makes people smile and can be placed pretty much anywhere. I am keeping my painted rocks on my windowsill, and they make me smile every time I look at them.

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