Semester 3

Raymond Healy

    I feel as though art can reshape or recontextualize an understanding of our learned history and beliefs by providing a different outlet and perspective from the typical ways we perceive events. Instead of reading about or watching reports of events, art provides a more engaging way of perceiving our own and others perception of the world. When we view someone’s art we gain a better understanding of their feelings expressed in a tangible way whether it be visual, interactive, or audio in which we see how they are able to channel their outlook. An example of this would be when I was taking an African American studies class over the Summer and my instructor exposed me to various works that had to do with various movements throughout the history of the African American struggle for equality which gave me a better perspective on the events of today.

     We can effectively incorporate feedback when revising and refining our ideas by taking comments and advice that we find useful and insightful and going back through our work with that new lens to create edits that lead to an overall more cohesive final work. An example of this would be the peer feedback received from the Capstone proposals that I used to better formulate my ideas when creating the following drafts.

    A news related item that I encountered in the past few months that caught my attention was the Black Pieta by visual artist Tylonn J. Sawyer. His work depicts an African American mother holding her dead son in the same pose as Mary holding Jesus in the famous statue the Pieta located in St. Peter’s Basilica. I found this visual very striking and timely with the current issues that America is facing and the tragedies that black Americans face everyday. Sawyer says this about his work, “A mother mourning the death of her son is something visceral, no matter what language you speak, it’s something that I think anybody seeing that image would understand.” I feel as though Arts Scholars has helped me to view works such as this through a social and historical lense which adds more depth to the work. 

    I feel as though the courses “Elements of Drawing” and “Get Out: The Sunken Place of Race in the Post-Racial Era” which I took as Arts supporting courses as well as my own interests were the most interesting and revealing. I feel as those classes definitely synergize very well with what I learn in Arts Scholars as the Elements of Drawing class allowed me to further hone my skills as a visual artist which is where I specialize as an artist and the Get Out class gave me new insights into social issues which is a topic that Arts Scholars deals with often. An example of this from each course would be when we would analyze visual works, music, and film in the Get Out class for their social context and impact. An example from the Elements of Drawing class would be the techniques I learned In the course allowing me to better prepare my works for my Arts Fest submissions in the Spring.

    I feel as though my learning was improved by interacting with fellow Arts Scholars as they were able to give me valuable peer feedback on my submissions that I was able to use in future work. An example of how this expanded my learning was when I was figuring out what to do for my Capstone Project I took inspiration from past projects and the projects of peers to create something I found to be interesting and unique.

    I feel as though I have contributed to the Arts Scholars program by actively participating in class and the TA groups as well as reaching out to peers for help with various assignments throughout the semester and offering help when asked. I feel as though the only opportunities I missed out on was the in person connection that was lacking due to the current circumstances. I feel that being in Scholars has definitely given me new outlooks and insights that have aided me in creating new beliefs and opinions on various topics from different forms of art to in depth social issues. There is definitely value in exploring perspectives outside of my own as they make me a more well rounded person who is able to discuss and relate to all different people.