Semester 2

Arts TRYathlon #1: Choose Your Own Adventure

Event Logistics (March 15th, 2025; Baltimore Museum of Art; Out with Friends)

#musueum #classicArt #ancient #picasso #monet

For this Choose Your Own Adventure, I decided to step out to keep on stepping outside of my comfort zone and enter into something I neither have much experience inside nor have really wanted to be inside of, an art museum. Of course, I love and appreciate art, but I’ve always been afraid to enter art museums as I know that most of the people who attend them are usually older and that intimidated me. I went with my friends, however, and It was a very fine time. By seeing the donated art collections of previous rich, famous Baltimore inhabitants, I was reminded of the discussion from the Art Scholars colloquium, “What makes/ who determines what is high art?” from last semester and I have realized several things. Before when thinking about this question in colloquium, I would have said that “the museums determine what is and what isn’t fine art” by implementing them into their exhibits. I’ve concluded, however, that although I was previously right, I also believe that people with wealth are also the ones who have a part in this archaic process of determining the aesthetics of art. When I was in the museum, I was just baffled at how boring and unoriginal some of the pieces were. Some pieces were put up for display because they had famous names attached to them, Piscassos and Monets, and some of them were very riveting, but most were dull in my opinion. Fine art shouldn’t be considered “fine art” because there is a famous name attached or it’s from a very long time ago, it should evoke something and is more original than anything else, in my opinion. No museum or wealth should overcome this reasoning. Art scholars and this experience was a well-needed push to come to this conclusion.

Arts TRYathlon #2: Choose Your Own Adventure

Event Logistics (March 29th, 2025; Washington D.C; Cherry Blossom Festival)

#kites #performingArts #CherryBlossoms

For this TRYathlon, I decided to participate in an art that I was completely unfamiliar with and that I had no idea that I would even be amazed at, kite performance. While I was at the Cherry Blossom fest in D.C, my friends and I encountered the annual Blossom Kite fest. We were amazed at the marvelous kites flying in unison in the sky, but then we encountered the Kite flying competitions. These competitions were essentially teams that would fly kites in a synchronized manner to music, and judges would then judge which teams would win the competition by their performances. My experience with the Blossom kite fest completely reminded me of how the Art Scholars colloquium is always trying to teach us to go outside our comfort zones with art and to try new things without being embarrassed or afraid of the outcome. I remember feeling the same way (albeit in a more intense manner) when participating in the vogue dancing unit, it was interesting to learn the history and moves of vogue dancing and actually doing the dancing really pushed me to my limits, but I got it done and I learned to appreciate the art form. Although I have not tried flying kites competitively, just watching these teams compete, knowing they grinded in learning "the way of the kite," I was completely not expecting to feel how in awe I was to the event and art form, thus forming a new feeling of appreciation toward the art.

Arts TRYathlon #3: Arts Scholars Event

Event Logistics (February 13th, 2025; Bel Air Lounge; If You Can Think It, Shrink It)

#keychains #handDrawnArt #coloring

This event was my introduction to the world of shrink keychains, where you draw and color on shrink plastic, then bake it in an oven for it to shrink, thus being able to create a mini keychain with your drawn item on it. Coming into the event, I did not have any expectations because I did not know what to expect. I was honestly worried about whether I could even succeed in creating something complete and creative while making the keychain. I'd never heard about shrink plastic and making something using the oven, but I quickly assimilated and found my groove while doing the drawing and coloring. The whole event reminded me of the fact that anyone can be an artist, no matter their ability and no matter what level of skill they have. The fact that I haven't done anything with drawing and coloring in quite a long time didn't help, and the baking part did make me feel nervous. However, everything turned out right, and I was proud of the outcome. Even though it was silly, it was mine, and I was proud. It reminded me of the time I was making my piece of music for the Art Scholars exhibition we had right before winter break. I had no idea what to expect when I chose to create a piece of music for the exhibit, and I was so bad at making music without practice, but after getting comfortable and using my ideas as an amateur, I let my creativity free and I ultimately had fun like I did in this event. These events do help with my confidence as an artist. There are certain days when I don't feel creative or that I could ever have that ability to create something unique, but even these silly events boost my confidence, and I just need to keep reminding myself of movements and events like these.

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