Vicki Zhang
Arts Scholar
Pentathalon Semester 1
As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.
Game Day with Peer Mentees and Mentor
September 12, 2020
Zoom
#Presentation #ArtsScholars
My peer mentor buddy, Amy Yim, and I hosted a "Game Day" event for our mentees to chill and enjoy. It was so much fun getting to know my mentees better through the art of playing games! We played a variety of games, including "Among Us", scribblio, codenames, and etc. These games involve different tactics and teamwork, which are important skills to have in life, and as an Arts Scholar. Something I realized is that my mentees have a lot of common interests, which is amazing!
Movie Day with Peer Mentees and Mentor
September 26, 2020
Zoom
#Film #ArtScholars
My peer mentor buddy, Amy Yim, and I are back at it again with a movie day for our mentees! We watched Howl's moving castle and it was so good. The scenery, artwork, animation, story, and etc. brought the whole movie together and made it enjoyable. Movies represents art in many ways because many art forms combined together created these breathtaking movies that everyone likes to watch today. Through this, we know that art is almost shown everywhere and anywhere in life, and we shouldn't take it for granted.
Among Us Showdown with Peer Mentees and Mentor
October 17, 2020
Zoom
#Presentation #ArtScholars
It was so much fun playing Among us with everyone!
Among us" is a game similar to mafia where we have to communicate with each other in order to find the imposters as a team. I really loved how we were all able to connect with each other through this medium of art (games with nice artwork, etc.), and were able to get a good laugh. The arts really is amazing and is shown in so many forms that give people happiness, even during this time of pandemic.
Epic Crafts Day with Arts Scholars
November 7, 2020
Zoom
#Visual art #ArtsScholars
It was a very stressful week, so we decided to just have a chill day where we make zines and crafts. It was so interesting to see what others decide to put in their zine because it is so different from my ideas. Serena made a variety of beautiful patterns which I never thought to do; it was simple looking with just 1-2 colors, but it was gorgeous/fancy. Overall, this experience of hosting a Crafts Day has been very inspiring to me.
MFA Dance Thesis Concert: Ghost Bride
November 19, 2020
Clarice Performing Arts Center
#Dance
Being able to dance in person amidst this pandemic was a whole blessing. I have all my dance classes virtually on zoom and it just isn't the same as being able to dance live. When dancing in person, we are able to feel each other's energy despite not touching each other. I am just so happy I was able to have this opportunity; otherwise, I would be stuck in my seat all day staring at my screen.
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Pentathalon Semester 2
Follow along this semester as I document my arts experiences this semester.
Game Zoom with Art Scholars
February 6, 2021
Zoom
#Presentation #ArtsScholars
I had a very fun time getting to see a lot of old and new faces today! First peer mentor event of the semester and we had a nice time playing some creative games! We started off by playing "Telestration", which is basically like the game "Telephone", but with drawings. Many people in our Art Scholars community are so good at drawing! We drew Kermit the Frog, Testudo, Frosty the Snowman, and so many another funny things. So many drawings were extremely detailed and colorful. In addition, it was pretty humorous how certain prompts such as a hermit crab shell ended up with a title of "rocket". This just proves that we all have our own creative and unique minds; therefore, we can use our own imagination to fill in the gaps.
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Afterwards, we played 2 rounds of Among Us, which involves a lot of tactic and strong, persuasive speaking skills. Personally, I am very bad at the game because I am very bad at tricking others(lying), especially when I am the imposter. Communication is definitely a main element among Art as well
Overall, I learned many new things about everyone and it was nice to catch up with them. Looking forward to seeing them on campus!
2 For 1 Pentathlon Event
February 28, 2021Â
Zoom
#Dance #ArtsScholars
Amy Yim and I were in charge of the breakout room of teaching Tiktok dance for this event and it was definitely an experience. I never really tried teaching dance over a virtual environment and it definitely feels weird not being able to do it together in person. Despite this, it was extremely fun being able to see everyone have fun while learning the dance.
We taught 2 sessions and there were definitely differences between the 2 sessions. While our first session was more active and engaging, the second session didn't have as much people so it wasn't as energetic. Having people's presence can really boost the energy in the environment. The picture above is a photo from session 1.
I danced before in person during the pandemic while practicing safety precautions and I can say that it feels completely different dancing together virtually. It is still enjoyable being able to move together, but it just feels like there is so much space in between us. We can't actually interact to each other like we can feel it when in-person.
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Overall, this experience was very enjoyable and I would definitely want to do something like this again.
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Getting Creative with Memes
March 27, 2021
Zoom
#VisualArt #ArtScholars
I had a very fun time hosting my first capstone workshop with some of my mentees and other mentors/mentees! We were all able to channel our inner creativity while coming up with our own text for certain memes and making our own memes.
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I am also extremely inspired from my peers ' memes. Everyone has their own special creativity and humor; therefore, the memes they make are all different. Yet, it is amazing how everyone can still relate to these unique memes. This is the power of memes in building community!
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This event really makes me think of the connection with my majors as well. I think memes are a bridge between art and technology. Since I am double majoring in Dance and Computer Science, I had always been wondering how they connect in anyway, but this activity really help me realize how technology and arts can be interrelated in many ways that we do not see. I wish to continue exploring the connections between STEM and Humanities as I continue to be a student at UMD.
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I am looking forward to the future events for my capstone project and I can't wait to see what others will create for my meme activity!
Side Step: Graduate Dance Works
April 1, 2021
Zoom
#Dance
This is a picture of me and our group filming in the Greenbelt Park for a dance in the Side Step performance. The choreographer of this dance is Rose Xinran Qi and she is graduating with MFA in Dance this year. This had been an amazing experience, especially since it is during quarantine. For the past year I had been doing Zoom dance, which just doesn't feel satisfying, so when we were able to gather together in the same space to dance, it just felt so refreshing. In addition, we were dancing in nature, which made this experience even more memorable, since I haven't went outside for a while.
Seeing other graduate's dances was very inspiring as well. It is just amazing how there are still so many creative ideas despite the fact we are in a pandemic. Besides dancing, there was a lot of amazing editing and filming as well. This made me think of Art Scholars in regard to having multiple forms of art complement each other. Ever since quarantine started, I started realizing the importance of dance + film more and more. In addition, I am currently taking a class for my Dance major where we edit our own dance videos.
This pandemic allowed me to realize another form of dance and I believe I would not have been exposed to this knowledge if not for this quarantine.