Aileen Foley
Arts Scholar
Semester 1
As I wrap up my first semester of college, although the circumstances are not ideal, I think I have had a good beginning to my higher education. The structure and delivery of the courses I have taken has been what I expected of university courses during the pandemic. Many of my classes have been asynchronous, which I was expecting. However, I think there will be a significant change in how my classes work once we are in in-person classes. One Arts supporting course I have taken, THET285, has taught me Zoom communication skills, which I had to use during the podcast project to interact with my group members. CPSA100 has been a fun class that has helped me destress every Monday night. One thing that we covered in colloquium that I did not expect was the exquisite corpse artform. I thought that the various types of exquisite corpse pieces were very interesting. The various activities that we did throughout the class, though online, helped me see the broad spectrum of art that exists in this world. I have also worked from home this semester, so although university life is not what I had first envisioned, I am sure I will get the college experience I have dreamed for when I go back to campus my sophomore year. The COVID-19 crisis and the university’s response to it has fit my expectations. I am glad that we were given the option to learn online to lessen the risk of spreading the virus. One of the most impactful things that I learned so far in Arts Scholars is the importance of teamwork. The podcast project allowed me to practice this. Although it was difficult over Zoom, we managed to do a good job in working together and producing a good podcast. I will continue to use good teamwork skills during projects I do during the next semester and throughout the rest of my schooling and future career.
Semester 2
Through my second semester of my freshman year of college, I faced some challenges but still managed to do well in my classes and have a productive semester. My greatest success in developing strong relationships with faculty members was through communicating with faculty through virtual means. Being off-campus during the pandemic made it difficult to develop strong relationships with faculty. I recommend that incoming students take advantage of the resources that their academic advisors provide and go to office hours when they can.
In the workshop that I participated in for Arts Scholars, Sewing Revamping, I met other people who were interested in design. I was able to form these connections with my fellow Arts Scholars while being off-campus due to the small-group nature of the workshop. We were also given a lot of time to share our creations with each other and talk about our ideas for our final project. Outside of the workshop, I was able to connect with other students through our shared interest in music on social media. I hope that I am able to connect with many more people than I did this semester when I start to live on campus in the fall.
I think that the Arts Scholars program best fosters community and artistic engagement through ArtsFest and the work that went into developing our artwork for it. I found the workshop that I participated in to be very engaging. It was also an opportunity for all Arts Scholars to contribute to ArtsFest, even if they were not creating their own individual research project. I will continue to contribute to the Arts Scholars community by participating in colloquiums, field trips, and putting a lot of effort into the project I create for next year’s ArtsFest.
My understanding and appreciation of art has been positively impacted by the experiences I have had in my first year of Arts Scholars. I think that one of the most important things the Arts Scholars program has done for me in the past year is exposing me to many different forms of art. I learned about drawing, music, film, dance, sculpture, and many other artforms. I was shown how art in these mediums could create a positive impact on various communities. I think that future Arts Scholars might expand their own definitions of what art means to them through the various forms of art that are studied in the colloquiums as well as the informative field trips that are provided in the program.
One of the most important aspects of Arts Scholars for me this semester was the workshop that I participated in. I found it very fun to speak to other students in the program while creating our pieces and learning something new. I learned many new embroidery stitches and created a piece for my final project that I am very proud of. Incoming Arts Scholars can get the most out of their experience in the program by keeping an open mind to new ideas and experiences.
Semester 3
My third semester as an Arts Scholar has been very rewarding. I was very happy to finally be attending classes in person as opposed to online. Throughout the semester, I was exposed to many different forms of art during our colloquium sessions. I learned that art can reshape our understanding of our learned history, biases, and beliefs by encouraging us to examine how we think through meaningful messages conveyed in visual and auditory formats. An example of a work of art that we examined in colloquium that does this is the documentary “La Manplesa”. This documentary tells the history of the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant in Washington, D.C., which consisted of mostly Latino residents, and the effects of gentrification and police brutality on the community. This film challenged my learned history by teaching me about this community of Latino people in D.C., which I did not know about until viewing “La Manplesa”. Through Arts Scholars, I also learned about the theoretical models and practical strategies for initiating the creative process. Wallace’s Model of Creativity is one of these processes. This process consists of preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. You must first prepare an idea for a project, and then brainstorm many ideas on how to expand upon it. Eventually, you will come up with an idea that you believe will be satisfactory. You must then test it, and if it works out, you will reach the verification stage. Otherwise, you will go back to the incubation stage and repeat the process.
Through the Capstone project preparation process, I learned how to effectively incorporate feedback and revise and refine my ideas. I received feedback from my peers and instructors on how to improve my Capstone concept. Sometimes, concepts that may seem clear and easy to understand for me can be difficult for my audience to understand. The proposal for my project contains many animation terms that I know but my audience may not. I received feedback from a peer who explained that they did not know some of the terms that I had used in my writing, so I returned to it and further elaborated on what each term meant so I could reach a wider audience.
One news-related item that I encountered outside of colloquium that dealt with the subject of art as a mechanism for expressing lived experience is how artists have expressed their fears during the pandemic. Many artists have done work that expresses their fear during this crisis. However, I have also seen artists create work that expresses hope, especially due to the vaccines.
In a computer science course I am taking for my major, I have learned a lot about the importance of time-management. Projects for this course take many hours to complete, so I learned to start working on them well in advance of the due date. This is similar to what I learned about the Capstone project process in Arts Scholars. Both types of assignments should be started well in advance in order to maximize the time I have to complete them in a concrete and well-done manner.
My learning was also improved by interacting with fellow Arts Scholars during this semester, especially because we are now learning in person. Although not for an Arts Scholars course, I interacted with other Arts Scholars that share a major with computer science, in order to understand complex concepts in our classes. Without these interactions, it would have been much more difficult for me to fully grasp what I was learning in said classes.
I have contributed to the Arts Scholars community this semester by participating in various activities such as a field trip and other activities that occurred outside of class. I participated in the photo transfer field trip. During this event, I worked alongside my peers in Arts Scholars to learn a new technique of creating visual art. I also participated in activities run by the Arts Advisory Board, a group of my peers that organize arts-related events outside of class. I thoroughly enjoyed the open mic event that they hosted and hope to contribute by performing at a similar event next semester.
Scholars brought me into contact with people and concepts that changed my previous opinions. For example, ChArma, the dance group that joined us during one session of colloquium showed me that it is possible for me to learn how to dance, even though I did not think so at the beginning. I think it is very important to explore perspectives that are different from my own because this can help you learn new things about yourself and other people.
My first in-person semester as an Arts Scholar has been very fulfilling and I hope to learn even more next semester when I work on my Capstone project.
Semester 4
My final semester of Arts Scholars has been very rewarding. The work that I did for my Capstone project and the Arts Scholars events that I attended all furthered and nurtured my understanding and love for art. The Pentathlon events that I attended and participated in this semester were very enriching. For example, in my Pentathlon entries for the films “Hereditary” and “But I’m A Cheerleader”, I was able to examine the filmmaker’s techniques in storytelling in a concise but detailed fashion. My perception of art has been influenced by the various experiences that I have had in Arts Scholars. I really enjoyed the field trip that I went on, a viewing of the play, “Sense and Sensibility”, in Baltimore. This play was an adaptation of the Jane Austen book of the same name. I enjoyed the way that the play gave a modern spin on the contents of the book. This showed me that modernizations of older pieces of art and media can improve my understanding of its content. I also enjoyed the workshop that I participated in, “Creating Characters”. This workshop took a practice that I have experience in, original character design, and expanded upon my knowledge. This experience taught me that there is always room for improvement and new knowledge in my artistic skills. My capstone project, “Principles of Animation”, greatly drew upon my experiences within Arts Scholars. One of the most important lessons that I learned through Arts Scholars that I drew upon for this project was the importance of persevering even through a challenging project. Much of the work that I did throughout my time in Arts Scholars has challenged me and my artistic skills, but I was able to overcome those challenges through perseverence. My capstone project required a lot of time and energy to complete, but through the time management skills I acquired through my time in the program, I was able to complete my project. Through Arts Scholars, I have deepened my existing artistic talents and interests. During my sophomore year, I was introduced to standup comedy, which could be considered a type of performance art. I was able to hone my skills in this art and performed on numerous occasions since starting. Arts Scholars has also improved my collaboration skills. For example, through the podcast project that I participated in during my Freshman year, I was able to greatly improve my collaborative creative process, especially my process via digital means. It was a challenge to do this digitally, but via the use of Zoom meetings, we were able to overcome this digital gap and create a good final product. I think that my Scholars experience will help me incorporate art in my life even when I am in a technical career. I will also be able to apply my creative skills to any projects that I will have over the remainder of my academic career. Computer science requires a large amount of creative skill and technical skill. The artistic skills that I have learned will improve how I work in the future.