I called it! (unsurprisingly)
I’ve written all about how “I want to pursue art for fun, not as a career.” and yet proceeded to attend Indiana Wesleyan for their art program. An incredible program it is, that I will continue to be involved in… but no longer as a major. Shortly into the semester I changed my (triple) major to not include Studio Arts, and dropped one of my two art classes. The time requirement was stretching me so thin (already) that I couldn’t put much energy into either of the art classes while staying on top of my other 5. Besides, cardboard is everywhere, just like learning opportunities when it comes to art. I’d argue nobody needs formal education to succeed in art. But it has its benefits!
IWU’s art program has faculty there to help and guide you every step of the way. Beit idea formulation, a roadblock in the middle, final touches, and safety along the way, you have someone there to help you. Approaching art without the help can be far more daunting, and take more willpower and more determination to succeed. Yes, the classes take willpower, but to make it on your own would be a bit different. You’d need to source your help elsewhere- through friends, coworkers, and family members. You would need to seek people who can critique your work and offer genuine feedback instead of only praise. My choir director said something in a rehearsal the other day that stuck out to me. It was, “I’m a coach, not a cheerleader.” and I hadn’t thought to distinguish the two before. Typically coaches (in highschool) have to juggle both the supporting and the instructing roles. My director, on the other hand, lets the cheering be done by a select group of students, and directs his energy fully towards instructing us to be the best we can be. IWU’s art faculty can be both cheerleaders and coaches depending on what you need at that moment. To go without faculty in the arena of art is to source those roles to volunteers within your day-to-day life.
I came home for fall break, and spent the entire first day making a boat.
and a lovely boat it is.
What’s crazy to me is how I spent 8 to 10 hours on this boat (in a single day), but find it hard to focus on reading for more than 10 minutes. Surely it’s something about cardboard and hot glue that just channels my energy into a project… but I’m not sure.
What’s also worth mentioning, is that this project wasn’t an assignment. It wasn’t for a class that would give me an arbitrary grade that I could base my self worth off of. No, this project was for a commission I acquired, based off of reference images I sourced, and skills that I decided to use or improve, and is representative of what I can do on my own (with general feedback from my family, and the fantastic idea of making a sleeve for the deck box to attach the mast to- oh wait you didn’t know that this is just a costume for a deck box for MTG did you. Yeah there’s a deck box that comes out of the deck of the ship). I didn’t have any help from a professor, is what I’m trying to say.
You don’t need a formal education to pursue art, and you don’t have to be a full-time artist just because you love making art.
Highlight that sentence, because it’s what’s been playing through my mind on repeat as I switch the Studio Arts major to a Business Admin minor to go with my communications and honors degrees. I can still pursue art! I just won’t have to rely on it for income, and that’ll make it all the more enjoyable for me. Cardboard is free, I’ve got connections in the hot glue world, and marketing just takes asking around and talking to people! There is absolutely no reason for me to stop making art when I can make the time for it. But no, I will not be graduating with an art degree anymore. Though,
