Chloe James May
Arts Scholar
Semester 3
I have learned a lot this semester from many classes, however I think the lessons that have left the biggest impact on me are from Art Scholars. I have learned that art can be educational in a sense of seeing new perspectives. Art scholars have taught me that art can enlighten people by showing them points of views that they have been missing which could lead to the viewer rethinking their personal beliefs and biases. Every great project has to start somewhere though, and I learned very helpful ways of starting the creative process during this semester like brainstorming by writing down any thought or word that comes to mind. For our capstone proposal ideas, we did a mind map during our arts colloquium to collect our thoughts on the project and this really helped my personal creative process. Besides starting the actual project, art scholars have shown me how I can deepen my thought process and my ideas through progressive feedback. We did multiple peer reviews throughout the semester which is always helpful because my classmates will provide their own opinion and offer me constructive criticism. However, one idea I found really helped me develop my thought process behind my art was the fact that during those peer reviews we would have to ask questions about each others' work. This helped us get a deeper understanding of our own projects and understand what exactly we want to accomplish.
Over the past few months, the world has been experiencing a lot of turmoil from almost every aspect. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, political partition taking place, and have reoccurring social issues. A few months ago during the height of the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement rose out of the ashes because of the unlawful death of Goerge Floyd; it had a lot of consistency and many people are still protesting for reform, however the movement has died down since. It was sad to see a movement with so much passion die down after a long rein of demanding justice, but a few weeks ago my hope was restored. I heard about a smaller movement in Memphis in which people of the city and artist were painting murals of black individuals who had lost their lives to police brutality. I thought this was extremely beautiful because arts scholars have taught me that you can find beauty in everything through art, and the people of this city chose to see the beauty in the people and get the world’s attention again by showcasing this beauty.
During my first semester at college and participating in arts scholars, I signed up for an architecture class because it was an arts supporting course. I didn’t think that I would get much out of it but I was wrong. I started off the class very confused because whenever they assigned us homework or a project, there would be very minimal instructions or guidelines telling us what to do. When I contacted my TA about this, she said the class was structured like that to allow students room for creativity. This reminded me of ar scholars because they both gave us so much freedom of expression and allowed us to branch out in many ways. Even my art courses during highschool put a lot of restrictions on what we learned and produced and in a way, sort of censored our art. Architecture and Arts Scholars gave me the freedom to explore my creative mindset and express myself. Art Scholars specifically improved my way of learning because of the people I was exposed to through the community. I lived in Bel Air my freshman year and found myself slowly becoming part of a family with the arts residence of this hall. If anything, it was bad for my learning environment and productivity because I would go to the lounge to study and end up playing jeopardy with a group of arts scholars for hours. We all encouraged each other both when living in Bel Air and virtually over zoom. We genuinely care about each other's goal and successes and I hope this community can continue after we finish the program as well.
This semester, I have contributed to the art scholars community by participating in art scholars events over zoom and also had good discussions with my fellow scholars about a film contest that we participated in for a field trip. I wish we could have had more time and more discussions in person during my time as an arts scholar but I know we are in unprecedented times to say the least so it may be awhile before that can happen again. Art scholars prompted a lot of change whenever we had discussions because they always offered new perspectives centered around art and the world in general. It changed the way I view and perceive art and its different forms. It taught me to appreciate all forms of art no matter what it is or how it presents itself. The value in this is learning lessons or absorbing=ng messages I may not have seen before by accepting these new and unique art forms. Because I acknowledge their existence and what they have to offer, I open myself up to learning what the art is standing for and therefore branch out my way of thinking.
Semester 4
I have grown a lot this year because of art scholars. My perspective on art has changed and evolved especially because of my pentathlon events in which I attended. An event that really elevated my appreciation for different art forms was my attendance of the University of Maryland's performance of Mechanical. This play showed me how much work actually went into a performance and how critical every part was. It also helped because my roommate performed as multiple characters so I was able to see the work that was put into it before the performance itself. This play and also the poetry slam that was run by AAB also gave me appreciation for different art forms and the different ways we can use self expression. I was a part of the Dead Poet’s Society workshop this semester and attending this event after writing so much poetry was eye opening. The whole semester I was evolving my poetry skills but it wasn’t until the poetry slam that I realized it wasn’t so cut and dry. Just like Mechanical, there was a performative aspect to poetry that added onto its message that really drove the passion and carried it to the audience.
My perception of art has been influenced by both my pentathlon events and activities from my capstone study class. My pentathlon events as well as activities like picking a working method has taught me there is a lot more to art than just doing it. I have always put emotion into my art but I have never emotionally prepared for it. For plays and poetry readings, even art exhibitions, there is a need to prepare thoughts and gather yourself and your emotions so you can present your work accordingly and get the message you want across to the audience. Another thing I learned from my class was that the method you chose to complete the project says a lot about you and your art. I had to choose a method that fit my art’s impulsivity but that may not work for others. The class taught me that choosing a method incompatible with your art may slow you down, but it is also ok to mess up because art isn’t perfect on the first try.
My capstone project reflected what I learned in Art Scholar’s pretty accurately. The reason I chose Art Scholars was because I knew I wouldn’t alot myself enough time for art in college and I would focus too much on school. Scholars has taught me that setting that time aside for yourself is necessary for success. Each week was a constant reminder to take a breath and that the things you do in everyday life so not need to be stressful. Even when completing assignments and pentathlon events for a grade, it never really felt like class. It felt like an educational club and that was more than I could ever ask for.
I have deepened the intrinsic value of my art in many ways but mostly by letting go. I now let my emotions drive my paintings. If I feel like putting a huge dark streak over a detailed painting, I do it, or if I feel the need to paint with my hands, I do. I stopped filtering myself because the whole point of being an artist is to express yourself and be unfiltered. I have expanded my creative abilities by erasing former stereotypes I have had about certain mediums of art. Any medium I had a preexisting opinion about I learned more about or participated in and am proud to say I have a new perspective on each. I have even adopted one of the mediums as a new style for my paintings.
Collaboration was a huge part of my Art Scholar’s experience and it had a big payoff whenever I was stuck with a project. Peer reviews were so helpful and it gave us insight on new ideas and allowed us to see our own projects from a different perspective. It was hard to offer/ take suggestions when someone wasn’t familiar with a form of art. For example, I spoke With Katie Harris, who chose to do a film project, about her capstone but I was very unfamiliar with her medium. Even in the short time I spoke with her, I was able to learn more about her process and offer suggestions even with the large learning curve.
The lessons I’ve learned in Art Scholar’s will follow me everywhere in life. Even this semester I have put into practice things I have learned. A big lesson for me was “killing my darlings” which I plan to put into practice everywhere in my life. In my professional life, I plan to stand out from the rest of individuals in my field by using my artistic view to beagle to see multiple perspectives and outlooks on projects. No matter what, I know the art community I have built through this program will always stay with me. Each person has given me something to remember and I will surely never forget my time with Art Scholar’s because of that.