SEMESTER 1

“Expectations Vs. Reality”

Overall, it has been a tough and wild transition from high school graduation to my first semester of college. Speaking about the structure and delivery of my classes first – in terms of workload, it is roughly the same as compared to high school. However, work in college, especially during the first semester, was difficult for me given the shift from pandemic senior year to an in-person college experience. I understand this shift is difficult for everyone, but I think this shift is even more-so for those who had to do class-sessions during zoom, as there was generally less pressure do classwork perfectly or on time. Given the overall sense of heaviness the pandemic has given me, I deeply struggled with my work ethic and staying motivated to do many things. A mistake I am currently making is placing too much pressure on myself to be my past-pandemic self, who was more disciplined and had an effective work ethic. I am slowly inching towards having a better work ethic, however. One thing that surprised me is the weightage of the final exams – they are all worth much less than I thought, and there aren’t just two categories of grades anymore, but several.

Speaking about CPSA100 in particularly: The workshop where we did Vogue dancing was the least expected but most insightful experience out of this class. Never did I once think we had to actively move and engage our muscles in a way that I would still be sore a few days afterwards but going to that workshop was worth it. If I had known we were going to be dancing, I would not have gone to class out of fear of trying something new. Therefore, I am grateful for this opportunity. In general, I was expecting to learn more about how art is connected to activism and social change, at least in more depth than what we have this semester.

The level of freedom we had during field trips (especially Glenstone) was unexpected, and it was one of the nicest shifts from high school to college (or just freedom in general). Our presence wasn’t constantly monitored, and we were free to self-reflect and explore the enormous area however we liked. Speaking of Glenstone, this trip was particularly impactful for me – within this museum, I found many abstract works that made me question the meaning, no matter how strange the art was. There was an exhibit that will stick with me, and it consists of a room with forest murals with sinks attached to the walls and flowing water. The floors were lined with rat bait and newspaper articles referring to economic crises, most likely during WW11. I had a conversation with a staff member there, and she informed me that no matter the intriguing combination of factors, the artist made every choice for a reason, and an even deeper reason to put it on display for the museum. Her remarks changed my point of view with abstract art and made me realize I need to appreciate this genre of art more than I am currently. My final paper during ARTT110 made a surprising connection to this conclusion, as we had to write about the meaning of a piece of artwork of our choice. Though I didn’t choose this one, I chose another abstract piece from the Driskell Center (Campus visit Round 2) These two artworks collectively caused me to place more importance on abstract art, and that there are various clues within an art that hints towards the overall meaning. Here is the art I chose: It was the mystery and the title (“Celestial Majesty”) - artwork shown above - that intrigued me about this piece of art. I decided to connect the awe I felt upon seeing this to my ARTT110 Project.

Link: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/norman-lewis-celestial-majesty

The university’s response to the COVID-19 crisis fit my expectations in the way of how it was required that most students wear masks and get vaccinated.

University life in general also didn’t match my expectations. One major aspect was living alone (without a roommate). Before going to college, I thought that living in a dorm and needing to take care of myself was going to be one of the most difficult things – after all, without a roommate, there’s no pressure to keep my room tidy for another person. However, to much my surprise, I adjusted very easily to living alone. This must be due in part to the fact that I go home every weekend (and sometimes on a weeknight to spend the night at home). A nice surprise with university life is that there’s less pressure to be exactly on time (down to the minute) of every class, and that there aren’t repercussions of being late by a few minutes (at least with my professors so far).

There were several impactful things I have learned in Art Scholars, including how abstract art is to be perceived and how to be a better critic. However, the most thought-provoking thing I have learned is that I shouldn’t shy away from new artistic experiences, because there is something note-worthy to be learned in every form of art, whether this be a lesson about the world or how to make a greater impact. I mentioned this artifact earlier, but one thing that led me to this conclusion was the Vogue-dancing workshop. I had 0 experience with dancing, but I later learned that didn’t matter – what mattered the most during Vogue-dancing was confidence. In the future, it is crucial that I pay less attention to how “good” I was at a particular artistic activity and just do it fearlessly, as what matters is that I am learning, or at least having fun. I don’t have to be good at an activity for it to feel worthy of my time, which was a faulty mindset I’ve had until this semester in CPSA.

SEMESTER 2

My understanding and appreciation of the arts has grown and shifted due to Art Scholars encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to artistic pursuits. There was the example of the Vogue workshop in the fall semester class – I have zero experience with dancing or vogue, so it was an enriching experience and taught me that dance is another avenue for storytelling (not just visual arts). I believe that for future art scholars students to expand their definitions of the meaning of art is to remain open minded to the shifting role of art in society. Throughout the years, art can expand and shift to take their role in society as humanity progresses, and this shift need not be as negative as some make it out to be.
When it comes to maintaining healthy relationships with faculty members, I did not face any significant obstacles as many of them were welcoming and encouraging any wide set of issues we faced (that we could step forward and discuss). However, my advice to incoming freshmen would be to maintain an open mind that they need not fear faculty members for judging them for their problems, especially since it takes a significant amount of time adjusting to campus.
Aspects of this course that were most beneficial in supporting my work included attending the workshops and completing the pentathlon. Completing the pentathlons allowed to give me time to explore artistic pursuits on campus and has also allowed me to reflect on important lessons I learned regarding the arts. Attending the Art and Design workshop encouraged close-knit collaboration with peers, as regular colloquium does not often give the chance to do that (given the large amount of people). My friends who I’ve met in Art Scholars motivate me in my art when I’m not feeling good about my art in that moment. For example, while doing the final project for ArtsFest, I had several anxieties leading up to ArtsFest that the project wasn’t perfect enough or was too messy (I am typically too harsh regarding my own art) but luckily my friends in the same workshop encouraged me that my worries were unfounded and motivated me to be proud of my art. In a similar way, incoming freshman can get the most out of this program by remembering to uplift others in their artistic pursuits.
The biggest way that the Art Scholars program has fostered “community” and “artistic engagement” is by exposing us to countless different perspectives of the arts. The staff succeed in this venture by encouraging group discussion and letting us hear multiple students take on different angles of the same art issue (due to their different exposures and experiences in the arts). An example of Art Scholars fostering “community” is on my field trip to Glenstone Museum. It was an enriching experience to hear everyone’s opinion on the same artwork, and how they interpreted it differently. I believe that students with different artistic perspectives need to communicate with each other – this way, everyone can learn from each other and become more empathetic towards a diverse art community.

SEMESTER 3

Art can help us reshape and recontextualize our history and biases due to the fact that it comes in many forms(as we have been exposed to in Arts Scholars). An example of this was during the drumming lesson, which helped me get into a flow state. Getting into a state of pure focus and flow, or feeling as if time is flying by, is a crucial part of experiencing art in its true form. Going along to the beat of others was an important part of experiencing the culture of togetherness, or how art brings people together, through music for example. At one point along drumming to the beat of everyone else, I slipped into a state of simply understanding others and feeling the same levels of energy as others in the room, even with my eyes closed and unable to see anyone else. The collective understanding of drumming to the same beat brought us all together under a common goal.

Incorporating feedback into our life is an important step forward as an artist, and it is important to collect feedback from someone who values your art - in other words, they see the potential, depth, and skill in your work and actively want to see you grow. They make these things clear, as well ~ I figured a common trait of artists is that we often put ourselves down for our work, harboring a certain dislike for whatever we create. It is important that we recognize our art has potential and that we can incorporate constructive criticism.

So far, the courses that have been the most intellectually connecting to the themes we've learned in Arts Scholars have been IMDM150 (Media Theory) and IMDM101 (Introduction to Immersive Media Design). In IMDM101, many of the artistic projects we've completed in class have been collaboration-focused, where our team members put together our combined knowledge of art and computer science to create immersive art. An example of this was creating a VR experience of a city with a 360 view, with drawn assets incorporated into the 3D space. I was in charge of drawing the assets (along with another team member) and the other two team members placed the assets into the 3D space. This experience made me learn that the process of collaborating with peers to make art elevates the meaning of art that is eventually produced, as I've also learned in Scholars.

A major way I have impacted the Scholars community was by making the choice to become a peer mentor. Through this role, I had the opportunity to guide younger scholars in their journey of exploring art and by bringing them to a group with people of varying perspectives regarding art. This was (and will continue to be) an enriching experience for me, as reaching out to mentees helps me realize the value of understanding different perspectives of a growing community. I also realize how similar we all art within the art community as I receive comments on how everyone is feeling crushed by the weight of assignments and stress, and how art is an escape from the stress.

SEMESTER 4

Through the semesters, I see the growth in my pentathlon reflections in my willingness to try new creative pursuits and how increasingly attuned I became to how my creative mind works (in terms of how to brainstorm, when my creativity flows at its highest). For example, I discovered upon my latest semester that my events were more chill and that they didn’t exercise too much mental energy, but still boosted my creativity overall and encouraged me to look at creative problems in different perspectives. Doing an activity that requires the correct amount of focus (ex. Folding a paper crane) makes my brain quiet and into a meditative state, which is beneficial for creativity. At the beginning of Arts Scholars, I focused on simply producing the most I can within a time frame, not knowing creative potential comes as a result of incubating ideas.

Over the course of the program, I have learned more ways to get into a creative headspace. One example is the drum session. Being in unison with everyone through a beat was an insightful experience into how a community can unite based on simple tasks. It wasn’t difficult to drum to the beat of everyone else, but it felt like everyone’s minds in the room were synced with this one task, which reinforced the connection I experience with the Arts Scholars community.

One way my capstone project drew upon the themes in Arts Scholars was the way I was able to weave together two seemingly unrelated things and create meaning. The curriculum encouraged me to look for connections in the strangest places, and I learned that it is a creative exercise to connect various ideas. My supporting classes, ARTT110 and IMDM101, taught me the basics of light, shadows, and how to make a strong composition - in other words, the technical aspects of art that draws a viewer’s eye and makes artwork pleasing to the senses. IMDM101 taught me the connections between art and technology, and how we can use the emerging fields of tech to bring forth more attention to the value of the arts to the forefront of growth.

My time in the Arts Scholars community encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone with the many forms of art we touched on, including music and dance (a medium I particularly am very familiar with). The Vogue dancing workshop comes to mind, as I have never danced before, but I knew other Arts Scholars were in the same position as me. Though it was quite the workout, I unexpectedly enjoyed it and the high energy environment it produced. Everyone was messing up, and I learned to let go of the pressures of perfectionism. This growth of letting go of perfectionism slowly got better through my time in Arts Scholars, as I learned that creativity flows better when one forgets how “good” one needs to be.

The main ways I have deepened my current artistic talents is through the feedback of others. I believe the best way to improve one’s art skills is through a community, or even just one person, who both believes in your potential and is willing to help you. I found this community within Arts Scholars, and it was incredibly enlightening to have peers who support your artistic journey, no matter how different it is from theirs. The way we learned how to properly critique someone (through the Critical Response Process) is an invaluable lesson and will definitely help all of us through our future careers, no matter what we choose to pursue. However, since Immersive Media Design is focused on a team-based environment, it always comes in handy to gain a deeper understanding of who one is working with in their team. I am passionate about VR and AR design, and projects must be done with strong teamwork, so learning how to collaborate with someone no matter how their minds differ from yours is a lesson I learned from Arts Scholars I will carry forever.