Vicki Zhang
Arts Scholar
Semester 1
It is amazing how arts can be used for many things. Art can be a form of entertainment, and it can also influence society today. Through our social activism panel discussion class, I learned that art has so much power. For example, for the Black Lives Matter Movement, many protestors carry a poster with text and drawings to display their stance. This contains a mix of the various art forms to make something impactful. This portrays that art allows us to better understand ourselves (beliefs, biases, etc). Also, it can support your stance and persuade others to side with your belief. This is the power of art and how it can be used to enhance your message. Some ways to initiate the creative process can sometimes occur when you are looking at works that are very inspiring. These can trigger an “aha” moment where our creativity starts to kick in when we least expect it to. I learned this concept through many of our guest speakers during this semester. We can effectively give points to revise through constructive feedback. Throughout this semester, we did a lot of revising with our peers and it really assisted me on knowing the importance of revision/how to give helpful feedback. For example, we would want to ask questions while giving feedback/compliments to allow deeper thinking.
A news-related item that uses art as a mechanism to express one’s values/beliefs that really caught my attention was the Black Lives Matter murals and paintings. It was just amazing how they created such a big and impactful artwork among the public. Their passion and their strong beliefs can be displayed through their hard work. We had a guest speaker recently where we did the activity of self identity by drawing a pixelated object. This really allows me to better understand how art can assist us in the road of self-discovery, and guide us on our beliefs.
I am taking the Arts Supporting course, EDHD 231, this semester and it really got me thinking on what creativity really is. Creativity is not only shown in arts, it is rather shown in what we do everyday. Everyone is creative in their own way and has their own definition of what creativity is to them. This relates to the Arts Scholars course because we also talked about how creativity usually occurs. There is definitely a relationship between creativity and the Arts.
My learning improved by interacting with my classmates in the Art Scholars community. I am so glad to be a part of this living learning program and meeting everyone during my freshman year! I was able to have a secure group of friends during my first year in the program and we always attend pentathlons together to learn more about the various categories of art out there. People in the arts community motivates me to push forward and I wouldn’t be where I am today without everyone!
Some ways I contributed to the Arts Scholars community this semester was by being part of the scholars peer mentor program and hosting fun events for our fellow freshmen Art Scholars! I also try to participate as much as I can in our TA groups. I really wished I was able to experience the peer mentor program in person in order to provide some in person events for the freshmen to ease into the college life to allow them to interact with each other rather than just looking at each other through a screen.
Being in Scholars definitely brought me into contact with people that have different beliefs on certain topics. Everyone is unique and has their own opinions after all! It is important to learn different perspectives because it is important to respect everyone’s opinions even if it may not be what we believe in. An example of this is shown in the process of peer reviewing for our capstone projects. Sometimes, our peers will think of things I have never thought of before that are very interesting. Some ideas can be conflicting with what I initially planned for, but some ideas were helpful that I actually want to use.
Semester 2
Through my years as an Arts Scholar, I can see my growth in the analysis of arts while enjoying the various forms of arts. Looking back in my pentathlons and capstone, we worked on many written and oral aspects of professional research/work. When comparing my pentathlons from this semester to last semester, the content is more rich and the writing is a lot more informative as time continues. In addition, the first look and second look presentations for our capstone projects allowed me to build on my professional presenting abilities by creating engaging powerpoints to go with the speaking.
My perception of the arts have strengthened a lot during this past year as an Arts Scholar. During this tough time when everyone is quarantined at home, the various forms of arts inspired me greatly. It is just amazing how everyone was still able to create such amazing art when the world outside is chaotic and probably not the most motivating time for us all. For example, the final projects of workshops and capstones were all so unique and interesting. The Art Scholars’ creativity is unending and it shows through everyone’s beautiful work. During this time, I believe art is a major stress reliever for everyone. In addition, the field trips I had through this year were very impactful for me as well. It was cool to learn Vogue Dancing through an online environment, which is definitely something I had never done before. The main message I am getting through these experiences is to never stop making art because it really is an amazing thing.
There are also many skills that I learned in the Arts Scholars Program that really contributed to my capstone project. The various practices on peer critiquing was very helpful in the process because it allowed me to earn insight from a different perspective. In addition, the lessons of “Killing Our Darlings” and others allowed me to be more flexible with the ideas I have for the project. Another main part of the Arts Scholars Program was community building, and I was inspired by that; therefore, I decided to incorporate that idea into my capstone.
Through this program, I was able to participate in many new forms of arts, which I am very grateful for. I learned how to make zines, vogue dancing, step dancing, and many other arts. I am currently a double degree in Dance and Computer Science, and as a dancer, there are so many forms of dancing that we can learn. Prior to Arts Scholars, I only knew ballet, jazz, contemporary, and modern dance. Being in this program allowed me to broaden my knowledge on the other cultural forms of dance.
Looking back at my experiences as an Arts Scholar, I was able to collaborate efficiently with those holding diverse artistic perspectives and interests through respectful peer critiquing in class. Through peer critiquing, we are able to share our different perspectives on a topic and choose whether to agree and incorporate their feedback or to disagree respectfully. For example, we would constantly go into breakout rooms in our capstone class where we can voice our opinions to earn more insight. Since everyone is unique and have different mindsets, hearing different ideas can really help us brainstorm more ideas.
I can definitely bring many of the skills and assets I got from this program for the future. Many communication skills that I got through this course and program will allow me to connect/network with others more easily. Many lessons on peer critiques and “killing our darlings” will allow me to have an open mind on situations in the real world. So, if something doesn’t work out completely, I will learn how to adapt.
I am thankful for everyone and everything the Arts Scholar has given me. I will continue to be an Arts Scholar even though we are done with the program.
