Camille Lorente
Arts Scholar
Semester 3 Reflection
Through Arts Scholars, I have been exposed to many different forms of art, and I’ve experienced the ways that they can impact other people. For example, Arts Scholars introduced me to art as a form of therapy. I hadn’t really considered this use of art until I participated in the Art Therapy workshop last semester. I found it super relaxing and enjoyable, and I think it exposed a personal bias of mine because it reminded me that art is about more than just beauty/aesthetic.
The creative process I think can be different for everyone. I’ve found that in the beginning stages, the best way to initiate the creative process is through brainstorming with others. In Arts Scholars we are able to meet with a group of our creative peers, all with various backgrounds and experiences, and work through our ideas in order to initiate the creative process. Another really important step is feedback. It is very useful to have so many other creative people who are also in the program and can give you their constructive criticism as you are going through the creative process.
Art can be a great way for people to express themselves and make change. This year, the Black Lives Matter movement has been very prominent. Art has been a tool throughout the movement to express the lived experience and hardships that black people in America face. There have been many murals, such as the murals of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, used to capture people’s attention for the movement. Art and Activism, a class I am taking as an Arts Scholars supporting course and for general education has really helped me understand the way that artworks like these murals can affect a movement. In the class, we learned about other movements in the past, and the role that art played in their success. Taking this course in a time where the Black Lives Matter movement is so strong helped me to see the importance of activist art in the current movement, and how it can really spark change.
As a freshman in Arts Scholars, you are able to live in a living-learning community, a dorm with other freshmen in the program. The living learning community was a really interesting way for me to get to know my peers in Arts Scholars and for us to learn from each other. Sadly, it was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but beforehand it was a great way for me to meet new people when adjusting to the new lifestyle at college. Additionally, it was fun to work together and feed off of each other’s creativity. People in Arts Scholars have so many different art forms that I didn’t even know existed prior to joining the program. I was able to learn a lot from living with them and having colloquium with them. I think it really broadened my understanding of what art is. The online setting has hindered this human interaction that feeds our creativity in Arts Scholars, however, I am still able to learn from my peers through our conversations especially in our TA time.
This semester has been very difficult due to the online setting. We weren’t able to do service or field trips the same way that we were able to in our first semester in Arts scholars. However, we made the best out of what we were given. For example, I attended “The Drum Lady” online field trip this semester, where we had an expert teach us about the African djembe style drum. I had so much fun participating in this field trip because it was such a great way to stay engaged and have fun during these tough times. I wish that I was able to contribute more to my community in-person through service, but I know that I will be able to do so soon when this is all over.
Overall, Arts Scholars shaped my understanding of art. I didn’t consider myself much of an artist prior to joining Arts Scholars. The program showed me that art isn’t just about creating things that are pretty or aesthetically pleasing. Art is also about being happy, making change, and interacting with others.
Semester 4 Reflection
The first obvious change that I noticed I had made this year was the declaration of my major. I came into University of Maryland as Business-Undecided, which was still listed in my bio, but this year I declared a Marketing and Supply Chain Management double major. I also noticed how these past two semesters I tried to branch out into different artforms for my Pentathlons. I used dance, which is one that I hadn’t done before this year. I think this demonstrates the way that being in Arts Scholars alongside artists with all different types of preferred mediums has shaped my view of art. Coming into Arts Scholars I didn’t really recognize all the different forms of art, but being around so many artists has really broadened my perspective. I think the field trips really altered my perspective of art as well. This semester I attended a foam stamp making workshop for my field trip, and it showed me how art doesn’t have to always consist of huge time-consuming projects, it can also be short, fun crafts that can be done with the materials in your home. This is important to recognize because it keeps art fun, which for me is the most important reason to do it.
For my capstone project, I upcycled clothing items from my closet. My project was inspired by the environmental harms of the fashion industry, and was meant to show students how to make clothing from their closet trendy and fashionable instead of buying new clothes to stay on-trend. I drew upon ideas that I had researched in past scholars courses and supporting courses, like COMM100, where I delivered a speech about the harms of the fashion industry. I also wrote about the topic in my scholar's english class. This past research really fed my passion for the topic, one that I plan to continue my research on in my career path.
This semester I took the Painting of Gods and Goddesses workshop. In this workshop we would learn a new Greek myth every week, and then we would make a piece of art inspired by it. While many people did paintings, we were allowed to do drawings, digital art, or other art forms if we chose. One of the weeks, the week that we learned about my favorite myth, Medusa, I tested out my digital art skills for the first time. Prior to this I had never really done digital art, but it turned out to be something I really enjoyed. If I wasn’t in this workshop, I might never have tried digital art. I now plan to try my hand at it some more in the future.
One of my favorite things about Arts Scholars is the emphasis that they put on including people of all artistic abilities and skill levels. Personally, I have always enjoyed art, but I was never a super talented artist. I like to paint, but I am not amazing at it, I simply do it for fun. Conversely, some people in Arts Scholars are really skilled at their craft. The faculty made it clear that all of these people, highly skilled or not, are welcome in Arts Scholars and able to produce really great art. This bridge between all these different skill levels demonstrated the broad reach art has. I think this concept can also be applied in everyday life. It reminds me to do things that I enjoy, regardless of whether I am amazing at them or not. It also reminds me not to compare myself to others, because everyone is different in their interests and abilities. This applies to the rest of my college career when I doubt my abilities to finish my education, and to my professional life when I may be compared to others in my job.