Raniya Washington
Arts Scholar
Semester 1
Stepping into college for the very first time was somewhat of a surreal moment. This was a time that I only imagined for a decade of my life. When my family left and all my things were organized in a foreign room, I felt like a different person though not particularly for the better. It was almost as if I was living a life that wasn’t my own. I often felt out of place or just wanted to go home after a tiring day. It was an abrupt change, but it was the introduction to the life that I am deciding to build for myself. This semester was full of many firsts, but now as I have reached the final week, I will soon begin my seconds and it will not feel so strange anymore.
One of the many differences between high school and college that I had to get used to was the grading structure. I know that tests normally make up a higher percentage of your grade but having two tests hold that much power over my grade was considerably terrifying. Other assignments received throughout the semester can be favorable to maintaining the desired grade and fortunately for me, keeping up with assignments was never an issue. Though keeping up wasn’t an issue, the overall workload was intimidating as expected. I would have multiple assignments a week from each class, so every Monday morning I would plan out my week to organize my work. As the weeks went by, I got used to it, so it got better.
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In my architecture class for our final assignment, we were all given a 30x30x30 cube made up of 1x1x1 cubes to make our design. Each person’s design was so different even though we were given the same constraints. During the presentations, I thought back to the arts scholars colloquium when we talked about our interpretations of art and what may influence our perceptions. Our designs were inspired by our knowledge, interests, and discoveries of the site we worked on. Everyone’s project was different because of our varying observations that were influenced by who we are. The format of the arts scholars colloquium came as a surprise because I did not know what to expect at all. I did not know that we would see live performances or be taught by the performers afterward. I did think that we would get more into creating rather than mainly observing. I also thought that most of the class would stay in the classroom, so I did enjoy being forced to explore various forms of art outside of the classroom.
I always imagined what college would be like, and that image was pretty accurate. College is very similar to what I thought it would be. The structure, schedules, people, and observations all look how I thought they would. The only thing that is not how I envisioned is how it feels. There is this weird feeling that I can’t quite describe, and I wasn’t exactly prepared for. I will get over it with time because though I have nearly completed a semester, everything is still very new. When I come back next semester, I will at least be familiar with the school and fairly know what to expect. I will have all of winter break to gather myself and prepare for the spring knowing what I have learned up until now.
The strangest thing about college to me is that I am pretty much living with all of these people. We share rooms, bathrooms, and the place where we have our meals. I have always been conscious of germs, and sometimes afraid of them, but the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 have heightened all of it. When in large crowds I used to try my best to keep a fair distance and not touch anyone, but now I avoid crowds at all costs. It was and still is the most prevalent concern with living here. Daily I see kids coughing into the open without covering their mouths or coughing directly onto things that everyone has to touch. I don’t touch door handles. It is a little unnerving to not have a place to feel safe from the germs or know that where I am is clean and properly disinfected. I have considered commuting, but the hassle of driving in every morning is the cause for my hesitation.
In arts scholars, I was able to learn, explore, and observe many things. Some ideas complemented my perceptions of art, and others caused me to think and take a step into a contrasting perspective. If there is one thing that I took away from this semester in arts scholars, it is to not be ashamed or embarrassed to express yourself. There will always be people that will look down on you and judge you, but there will also be people who will relate to you, understand you, and feel seen and represented by what you have shared. For some, art is a safe space, an outlet to connect with themselves and others similar to them. We were also told to keep open minds and uphold an accepting environment. I will continue to see the value of accepting others and the benefits of having an encouraging and accepting mindset. The activities we did in class could have easily been uncomfortable for everyone with the fear of being judged, but since everyone participated and laughed and smiled while doing so, it was fun. We learned vogue dancing in class, and I was nervous about doing it in front of everyone but seeing everyone else also doing it and the class cheering each other on it made it a lot easier. I had a great time in arts scholars this semester especially because I was able to experience the influence that our environments can have on our behavior. I often find connections to this class within my other classes and the media, which leads me to view this class as meaningful and relevant.
Semester 2
This year was full of brand-new experiences that I had only imagined before. Beginning college was something that I looked forward to and tried to form predictions for how it may turn out. Though college has not gone as I expected, I have realized that each day is a chance to change the narrative and alter your world, and being a part of arts scholars helped me uncover that. We created, learned, and watched different art forms throughout the year enabling us to learn about the beauty that the world has to offer if we just find it. I will be back next year carrying with me the knowledge and involvement I gained this year.
I had preconceptions of college that I could only encounter to realize weren’t true. I thought the professors would be a little mean and unavailable, so I hesitated to ask for help. When I finally decided to email my professors about my concerns, I received responses that only showed care and support. They wanted to help and to make sure that I understood. Reaching out to receive that clarification was much better than sitting in class confused. If I could talk to myself when I prepared to enter college, I would say not to be afraid to voice your concerns and talk to your professors because they can clear things up. It may seem scary and intimidating, but it is worth it in the end. After you do it for the first time, the following ones will begin to feel normal.
When attending a large university like UMD, you have to make it smaller to feel like you have a place in it. Within arts scholars and my architecture major, connecting with the familiar faces that I saw often throughout the year helped me to gain a sense of familiarity. People I can see and be seen by regularly established my peers that I know are more or less going through the same things that I am. When arts scholars broke down further into workshop groups, in my poetry workshop I was around other people that were interested in something that I am interested in. Finding smaller groups to join in this big university can make it easier to find people you have things in common with and could be a great way to form lasting relationships.
A highlight of arts scholars for me was when we had the guest vogue dancer. I enjoyed this class the most because it brought everyone in the room together. We were laughing, dancing, and having fun, but most importantly, we weren’t judging each other. We each had to show off what we learned in rows with other arts scholars, and it could have felt embarrassing to do that in front of everyone there, but the environment was very encouraging and comfortable, and I didn’t feel embarrassed or self-conscious at all. This was a moment when I felt like arts scholars was a community. It would feel so fulfilling if one day I can contribute to creating an environment where people can be comfortable openly participating and artistically expressing themselves.
Art is a great way for people to connect with themselves, their peers, and the world. This year I was able to learn the expanse of art and how much it impacts our daily lives. Art ranges from architecture to music, clothes, stories, our environments, and so much more. Our lives are affected every day by the art we see or even don’t see. Art can convey messages that influence our thoughts and opinions for good and for bad, so it is always good to be aware and cautious of the media we expose ourselves to. As we realize the extending reach that art has on our lives and society, our perceptions of the impact of art will grow and evolve with it. There are so many new things to learn and create, so our knowledge and definitions will continue to expand.
Experiencing various forms of art and creating art are pillars of arts scholars, but reflecting on everything we learned has been an important part as well. I think that the most beneficial part of arts scholars was writing in the arts journal. A few times throughout the semester we wrote reflections in our arts journals to talk about what we learned and what we are taking from it. In my poetry workshop, we were given journals to just write down ideas and possible inspiration for poems. I think that the journal helped me analyze what I was seeing, feeling, and experiencing. When I would take a few minutes to write down reflections that further broke down what inspired me and drew emotions from me, I think it helped me understand what I view and how I view the world, and that influenced the kind of poetry that I wanted to write. I would encourage any future arts scholar to write reflections on what you see and feel because it can help you to take everything in and understand your thoughts and perspectives. Having these records can help find the questions that you want to ask and the questions that you want to form answers for yourself.
I was able to learn a lot this year about art, physics, environmental justice, architecture, and myself. Each day I learned something new, things that I hope I can hold onto for a very long time. Arts Scholars has been a great resource to find a community and it was so fun to learn about all of the art forms we covered. It is always a little distressing to put an end to something, but for now, this is just a pause. I will do this all again beginning in the fall returning to what I can only imagine for now.
Semester 3
As I near the end of my third semester at the University of Maryland, I can say that learned so many new things and explored interesting topics that I never considered before. Being a part of arts scholars has allowed me to experience new forms of art such as drumming, light painting, and pendant making and while doing this I was able to hear the ideas and opinions of peer arts scholars. For me, this semester was about exploration. A large part of that exploration was forming my capstone project topic and exhibit that pushed me to ask questions and develop ideas into a cohesive project. It is sad to say goodbye to another semester, a set of classes, and classmates, but I am eager to enter another semester and continue exploring.
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When creating art, everyone follows a process that works best for them, but along the way of and process, we learn and expand on current and new methods that we may incorporate into our future projects. Art can represent ideas and opinions that that we didn’t know we had or didn’t know how to explain. As we worked on our capstone proposals throughout this semester, we arts scholars had to keep asking ourselves what is a topic that we find interesting, believe in, and can expand on. With those ideas, we had to figure out a way to artistically represent these ideas so that they can express how we feel about our topics and teach or influence the ideas of the audiences that will view them. We first had to choose our topics. We had the freedom to explore any topic, but that meant that the possibilities were endless, so we had to find ways to make them smaller. One activity we did was writing down as many ideas as we could in a limited amount of time and then getting rid of an idea one by one until we were left with one. This helped me find which topic stuck out the most to me and led me to my final decision. As we began working, we had a lot of time to receive feedback and revise our work. The process of feedback and revisions was very effective since we read comments and suggestions from our peers and teachers throughout the whole process. On our inspiration boards, research, and outlines we received feedback until we wrote our final proposals, which I found to be very helpful.
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Throughout various events and points in history, art is used to convey ideas and beliefs and an artist’s stance on those subjects. In an architecture history class I am taking we discuss different periods of art and architecture that were influenced by social, political, and environmental factors. Art and architecture were often representations of the public sentiments occurring within these periods. When people wanted to step away from traditional or classical forms of art and architecture, art that challenged those beliefs grew popular such as modernism, cubism, expressionism, and other Avant-garde movements. People also used art to express their beliefs and make comments on political events, for example, war and violence, sharing how it affects them or their communities. We discussed in arts scholars that our environments affect how we understand and enjoy art, but along with that, our political and social situations influence those attitudes as well. The political state of a nation or period which may include war or revolution may influence the public to pay attention to art that represents those ideas more. The forms of art that are common or more widely accepted within a region or period will also influence the art that people are drawn to. There are so many factors that influence the art that we enjoy, and they continue to change with our changing environments and time.
In an architecture class that I am taking called Design Media and Representation, we had an assignment where we chose a house as our precedent to study the floor plans, elevations, layout, and other design elements to explore the attitudes that the architect expresses through the house. Using different strategies, the houses were able to guide certain feelings within the house through how it was designed, and we had to uncover that. In architecture classes and arts scholars, I have learned that within every artistic creation, there is great and valuable intention and meaning behind the decisions that have been made. Sometimes taking the time to dissect and study a work of art will allow one to understand a deeper meaning of the piece and recognize the strategies that are utilized. Gaining a deeper understanding of these works may even grant a glimpse into the mind of the artist.
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Through colloquium, discussions, and reviewing each other’s work in arts scholars, we can hear and interact with the opinions and judgments of our peers. We get to review, give feedback, comments, and suggestions on each other’s wonderful and insightful work, and also interact with discussion posts allowing us to consider different interpretations and memorable moments of the art that we viewed together. This allowed us to improve our work and leave each event we attended with more engaged and discerned comprehension informed by the observations of ourselves and our peers. I’m glad that I was also able to contribute to these discussions by sharing what I observed and participating in the reflections that my peers had. Hearing all of their ideas helped me to grow my own. I haven’t faced any opposing ideas or ideas that challenged my own, but I have gained alternate and additional perspectives from the arts scholars community. The best example of this is viewing so many differing capstone project presentations. There are so many different ideas and paths that everyone has taken to approach their ideas that are so unique and so inspiring.
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The most fulfilling component of arts scholars is having the opportunity to explore diverse forms of art. This semester I tried out drumming, light painting, pendant making, and listening to a poetry read. The art that we can create and explore is so vast and never-ending, so even with the end of another semester, the possibilities for what we can continue to create and explore will not end with it.
Semester 4
Four semesters have seemed to go by in a flash. Though the days were the same length as any other, my first two years of college are coming to an end, and it feels as if it just started. As my time as an arts scholar concludes, all of the trips, activities, projects, and peers will become memories. I will take this moment to reflect on the ups, downs, and in-betweens that my first two years of college and art scholars have brought me.
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A prominent aspect of arts scholars that I grew to enjoy was the pentathlon/TRYathlon. Going to or experiencing a new art form or activity on campus was a great opportunity to explore this new campus and see the various events that we could attend. I viewed many shows at the Clarice, explored events around campus, watched movies at the Hoff, and explored online resources. I am glad that I was exposed to how I can connect with art so easily around campus. When I was just beginning pentathlons and writing reflections, it was something that I dreaded and would take me a while to complete. It wasn’t so easy in the beginning for me to find the connections between what I saw to what I was learning in classes and arts scholars. But over time it grew easier and easier to see just how connected everything was. Ideas and concepts learned in class could be built upon the themes expressed in the dance pieces, exhibits, movies, and presentations I saw. Over time and continuing to write the reflections, I found uncovering the connections and meanings became easier the more I did it.
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Art is a very broad topic that can be explored in so many ways and I think that was my main takeaway from arts scholars. Last fall we were all presented with the same assignment of proposing ideas for our capstone projects. Every project was unique, interesting, and different and I thought that it was so wonderful to see how many directions an artistic question can lead. I also was able to question what is considered art. Art can truly be anything and this was something that I learned in the past 4 semesters. One example is the ephemeral art workshop. They made art out of water, sand, food and so much more and it was so creative and a form of art that I never considered. Arts scholars exposed me to art that goes beyond the common perceptions of what art is and explored art that is produced in everyday life to technical research questions.
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My capstone project addressed how our individual experiences and perceptions will impact how we respond to the art. From the very beginning arts scholars, this was a topic of discussion on how our diverse backgrounds and experiences will influence the art we like and how we respond to it. Not everyone will like every piece of art, but that is okay because everyone is different and has different tastes and perspectives that contribute to what they like. I was aware of this and used this to drive the theme of my project to encourage people to have different responses to my project.
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People are the consumers of art and also a wonderful inspiration. Seeing what they do and what they like about what you do can encourage you to try something new or work harder. Having a community of such talented and artistic arts scholars peers has been a point of motivation for me to try new forms of art and build on the things that I have done. I am excited to try out the new art that I have explored and seen in arts scholars, but I am also excited to grow and expand on the art that I have done in the past and in my capstone project. From my capstone project, I gained new art forms and hobbies including making oil diffusers and candles.
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We participated in various group activities listening to the ideas of other peers and working on group assignments. In the fall of semester 3, we worked on a group animation project. Together we had to come up with a topic, how we would present it, and then allocate the tasks to the different members. Everyone was so considerate of all ideas and also prepared to volunteer to fill a role. It was nice to work with people in a welcoming environment where all the ideas were heard and making the animation was so much fun.
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I enjoyed my time in arts scholars the activities we did, the themes we explored, and the projects we were able to complete, but I most enjoyed being exposed to all kinds of art and how I can access them. The TRYathlon let me see how I can interact with art on campus. The field trips showed me places to go beyond the campus. Lastly, the capstone project showed me that I can complete a long project and that transforming a research question into a creative project. I am glad that I was an arts scholar, and I am thankful for all of the experiences that I gained as a result. It is sad to say goodbye, but the lessons I learned and the people I have met will remain a reminder of the beauty art has to offer and rest as a beautiful memory.
