SEMESTER 3

​Art is a symbol of history, biases and beliefs. I do not believe you can separate the two. However, because art can be made by anyone, it is a tool that allows individual people to tell their own story, which may not match the majority’s understanding of a certain subject. We discussed this in my ‘field trip’ over zoom about zines. Zines are produced by individuals, and they can include anything from infographics, to poetry and drawings. They can provide information that may not have been published to a wide audience. Zines are a form of art that target how to reshape society’s learned history, biases and beliefs. 

During this semester, we learned about the process in which we ask for feedback. While it is easy to tell someone their project is great, it doesn’t necessarily help them in the future. To help guide the peer reviewers in giving feedback, everyone listed questions about their own project. The peer reviewer would then answer these questions and give more comments about the rest of the submission. When my feedback was given in the form of questions, I found it easier to give more clarity and depth into my projects. Questions point out areas of confusion or curiosity, so it shows me what areas I need to fix. It was also better for me to respond to specific rather than broad questions so that I had a clear idea in mind about what was missing. I applied this technique while creating my capstone proposal. I had to revise my proposal many times because I wasn’t clear or descriptive enough with my writing, but with directed comments from my peers and from Harold, I think I was able to clarify my project. 

In the October 2020 National Geographic magazine, there was a piece related to Jon Henry’s photograph collection of photos called ‘Stranger Fruit’. Henry’s photos show various black mothers from around America, holding their son in a way that emulated famous paintings of Mary holding Christ after he died. This piece is direct and emotional, and one can clearly see the message Henry is trying to point out. Because the message in this work is so direct and tied to current events, I don’t think I relied on my experience in Arts Scholars to understand it. My engagement with Arts Scholars however did make me wonder more about how the photos were taken, edited and how that affected the overall meaning of the piece. Arts Scholars has taught me to look more closely at the details of art and ask questions about them.

I would say that my Art History 201 class was most similar in the information we learned in Arts Scholars. My high school never went into detail about art history, so it was very interesting to see how these iconic pieces of art are connected to larger historical events. In Art Scholars we often discuss how art can be used as a way to promote social justice and discussion. This idea was proved over again in art history, even starting with paintings from the Renaissance as people started experimenting more with 2-point perspective and changing the message surrounding religion, to modern art today as many of the pieces in this category challenge our idea of what art even is. Every new art period challenges the values and styles of the previous period. Elements of a painting, such as bright colors and drastic composition as symbols of what is important to the time period. Sometimes, this could be about social justice, for example with the Realism movement depicting the lifestyle of those in poverty, or even attempting to normalize sexuality in the elite class during the Rococo movement. In arts scholars, there were several guests that talked about how art is a means of expression. Ivelisse Diaz discussed how Bomba music was a way for people to heal and also protest. Alanna Reeves showed how her visual style of art allows her to connect more with her culture and share that experience with the world. These two examples from Arts Scholars show how art is more than just a visual or sound. The biggest take away I have from these two courses is that art is a form of communication and has power.

One of the huge benefits for me with Arts Scholars is that it was an opportunity to make friends with similar interests to my own. Being at a huge school like UMD, it can feel like you get swept up in the crowd; however arts scholars provided that little mini community for me to feel comfortable in. This type of situation impacted my learning while we were on campus because it made me feel a lot more engaged in class. I was able to see the same group of people once a week, it was easier to talk about assignments one on one, and simply reflecting was easier. Learning online for Arts Scholars in the Fall of 2020 was definitely more engaging than the Spring of 2020, however I still mainly felt like I was moving through the motions. I attended every class and always attempted to participate, but it really felt like just another thing to check off the to do list. This feeling has caused me to probably not absorb as much than if we were on campus, but this is also partially due to the fact that I’m trying to juggle a lot more things at home than I was at school (like working, returning back to more intense training for my sport, and my home schedule is very different than my school schedule). One example I can provide to match this situation is that I really cannot remember a lot of the stuff we did this semester. This is less a reflection of the class, because I feel like this is not normal for me, and more of a statement regarding how I’m feeling in general due to the abnormal situation. One bright side is that because Arts Scholars still remains as my ‘safe space’, I am more comfortable with reaching out. This unique situation has forced me to learn that it’s okay to ask for help and ask for people to review things. I am very grateful for being able to talk to Brigid about my ideas outside of class because she really helped me learn how to expand my thoughts and was my crutch this semester. Another cool thing about being online is that we were able to meet guests from different areas. I really enjoyed and learned so much from Ivelisse Diaz’s discussion about race and the Bomba music style, which we may not have been able to experience if we were in person. 

Being a peer mentor this semester, I held a few events for my mentees to attend. However, many of them were in the dorms while I was at home, making it difficult to connect with them. I think if we had been in person, I would have seen a larger turn out than on zoom. I also made it my goal to always participate in TA Time because my TA Kate, always tried super hard to engage us and was sometimes met with a blank stare. I know the online atmosphere is hard to work with, so I had hoped that if the ice were broken, more people would feel comfortable to join in. I wish I had gone to more Arts Scholars events hosted by the Scholars committee, because I hadn’t realized how relaxed and fun they were until I had gone to one in December.

I think most of the guest speakers we met this semester have the same overarching view or opinion on things as me, however, because of their different experiences, it reminded me that the world is a lot more complex and larger than I imagine it to be. It is important to encounter people who challenge your beliefs so that way you don’t live in an echo chamber. Hearing the same thing over and over again does not help you grow, and artists need growth in their lives to help better their art. I have already mentioned Ivelisse Diaz’s discussion, but it made a really big impact on me and I think it was productive to talk about race and how it’s related to music. Being black and latinx in America is different from my own experience and despite the fact that I was aware of this before this discussion, it feels different to hear someone talk about their life experiences. This discussion, among others we have had in Art Scholars, have exposed me to different types of people that I may not have encountered otherwise, which in turn makes me a more empathetic person and a better artist. I can draw inspiration from other areas besides my own life.