Makenna Benson
Arts Scholar
Semester 1
College courses are about what I expected. I really appreciate how structured my courses were this year. Most of them seemed to follow a similar schedule week to week in terms of assignments to turn in. This was really helpful in terms of keeping track of assignments in the craziness of online school. The most unexpected class experience in terms of course structure and delivery was my architecture course. For being the first class that all freshman architecture majors take it was definitely a lot more hands off that I expected. Almost all of our classes were run by our TA instead of the professor and they gave us very little instruction for assignments. Other than that, most of my classes were what I had expected.
This semester I took ARTH260: Art and Activism. I took this class as a part of what I hope to have as an Art History minor (or major) and as I’m sure you can tell from the title of the class, there were lots of connections to what we were learning about in CPSA100. We did a semester-long group project in that class that centered around making a piece of art activism and that project had many similarities to our podcast project. For the project, my group created a series of digital posters hoping to raise awareness of the negative aspects of voluntourism (you can learn more and see the final product on our instagram page @is_dis_you). It was really interesting to see the ways that these two projects compared to each other, since they were each taking on the idea of learning about art activism. It was cool to see the different activist issues that groups chose, since in both projects that was up to the discretion of the group members.
Going into scholars I didn’t know exactly what to expect, so most of what we covered was unexpected. The only thing that I wasn't surprised we covered was art activism. Scholars as a whole being about giving back and service, I wasn’t surprised that we learned how to use our artistic abilities to create change. I was surprised by the podcast aspect of the major project because it’s not exactly what comes to mind when I think of artforms that we would study. Pentathlon events are definitely more underwhelming than I thought they would be. Unfortunately, I think that is just due to the online aspect and that I would enjoy them more if they were able to be in person.
College is definitely underwhelming compared to my high-school vision of it. I was lucky enough to be able to live on campus this year, but it still feels like I wasn’t able to have as fulfilling a semester as I would have hoped for. One positive aspect is that I was able to make a decent amount of friends this semester, and I’m sure that number will only grow next semester. Even so, college is definitely lonelier than I expected. It’s hard to focus during online classes and that certainly has not helped my grades this semester. I took high school very seriously and had hoped that I would be able to have a little more fun in college, but covid has made that difficult. Hopefully as the semesters go on I will be able to find a nice balance between school and having fun.
UMD has done a lot better in terms of COVID cases than I expected. At least compared to other universities, I think UMD has done a good job of being direct and transparent with everything COVID related. It is definitely frustrating when updates are given last minute (specifically in terms of the whole move in process and thanksgiving break), but I think they are doing their best considering the situation.
One of the most important thought provoking experiences I had in scholars this semester was the “field-trip” that I chose which was to watch the Sundance short films. I really learned a lot from this experience about films and how different aspects of the film (lighting, color scheme, etc.) can contribute to the mood and theme of the films. This was a really fun experience because film is one art form that I do not have much experience with and it was really fun to be able to explore this art form. I intend to apply this knowledge to better appreciate movies and films that I see in the future. By learning about film as an art form instead of purely for entertainment, I am better able to appreciate the effort that goes into filmmaking.
Semester 2
To be honest, it is hard for me to say that I think I developed a strong personal relationship with faculty members. Due to the fact that the past two semesters were all online for me, the classes felt very impersonal. Though I did develop relationships with other students and even some ta’s, my relationships with the other faculty members is something that I hope to improve on next year. I hope to do this through my involvement in scholars, including the peer mentoring program. I think that being involved is the most important factor in fostering these types of relationships and that it will be much easier to gain personal connections with the faculty once classes resume in-person.
I have used my artistic interests to make connections with other students in arts scholars through the workshop we did this semester. It allowed me to interact with other scholars that were interested in painting and greek/roman mythology. These connections enabled me to cope with adjustment because it gave me people to reach out to if I was confused or had any questions about the work. The greatest obstacle in pursuing these relationships was the online environment. It made it really difficult to interact with other people in an engaging way. I think that next year's freshman can make the best use of their connections through not being afraid to approach other students. Even just a simple conversation can go a long way in making small connections with other scholars.
The art scholars program fosters community and artistic engagement through their work throughout the year and through community service. At the beginning of the year we did a service project focused around giving back. The project I chose was to write to a representative to propose support for a piece of legislation. Artistic engagement happened more in the day to day work of scholars. Last semester we did a podcast project that incorporated many different art forms for us scholars to explore. I plan on contributing to the arts scholars community in the future through my work as a peer mentor. I hope to help the incoming freshman adjust to college life and make connections.
The biggest way that scholars has impacted the role of art in my life has been through the exploration of different types of art. Through pentathlon events and projects done in class I have been able to explore types of art that I have never done before, such as podcast making. Future arts scholars might have a similar experience due to the lack of variety in arts education in their high schools. Often I find that the people I talk to have a certain artform that they focus on and don’t explore much outside of it.
I think that the most beneficial part of my scholars experience so far has been the workshop I attended. It was a really valuable experience because it allowed me to interact with other scholars who might have similar interests to me (because we chose the same workshop) in a smaller environment. Though the group projects during the first semester were smaller environments where we could meet other scholars, it was a very random pairing and I did not feel that I had that much in common with my group members. Another reason I think that the workshop was the most valuable part of my experience was because it was something that I was actually interested in. It is easy to write off scholars as an easy class that you don’t have to put a lot of effort into, but you don’t get anything from doing that. Since I was actually interested in what I was learning, it made me want to put more effort into my work.
Semester 3
Art can reshape or recontextualize an understanding of our learned history, biases, and beliefs through education. Art can be a great conduit for expressing oneself and therefore people often pick up on emotions when viewing the art. This makes them care about the subject of the art and learn more about the issue at hand. For example, this makes me think of when Gabi was talking about her research as an example of how to do a project proposal. She discussed how Puerto Rican artists were critical in gaining support for Puerto Rican sovereignty.
Some ways to initiate the creative process that we explored in class this semester included brainstorming and mind mapping. We did both of these activities for “Capstone Study I: Ideation” when trying to think of ideas for our capstone project. On top of those strategies, in class we talked about a system for idea generation and refining. These strategies that we learned helped me narrow down what topics I wanted to explore for my capstone project.
We can effectively incorporate feedback to revise and refine our ideas with greater depth and clarity through making sure to fully read the feedback and to actually use it. Throughout the semester we worked in pairs to do peer reviews on each other's work. Before these reviews we went over the best ways to give and receive feedback so that we got the most out of the process. Mostly, I just learned that it is important to have a good understanding of the feedback that you are given and to make sure to incorporate it into your final product if it is useful.
Though it doesn’t seem like it would connect with what we learn in Art Scholars, I think that Taylor Swift’s music and the situation involving the re-release of her albums is very relevant to what we learn. After having to cut ties with her previous record company on bad terms, Taylor Swift lost the rights to all of her albums. In order to reclaim her music she is currently in the process of re-recording and releasing updated versions of her life's work. The act itself of re-releasing these albums is a message in itself and a source of power for Swift because she is reclaiming what it rightfully hers and is a great way of clearly expressing her values. The music itself is worth noting due to its expert nature at representing her lived experience. So many people are relating to Swift’s music and that is a testament to how she’s able to translate her experiences to song. Being in Art Scholars has exposed me to so many new artforms and in this way I think that it helped me in understanding this story better. Even so, I don’t think that it changed much of my opinion on the matter, just that way I went about interpreting it.
The course that I took that connected most with what we learned in Art Scholars was ARTH260: Art and Activism. I took this class my first semester of freshman year as a way to start taking classes for my art history minor. I had a lot of fun in this class and learned so much from my amazing professor, Professor McEwen! The class focused on multiple activism movements across history that used art as a medium to express their needs or desires. This connects to Art Scholars because we have talked a lot about using art to express ourselves and we even had a talk where we heard from Professor McEwen! The idea of using art to express oneself is something that I am hoping to take into my capstone project. My project is about representing stages of growth and development with flowers, so it is a very personal project to me. It was really cool to see this overlap between these two classes and they each presented a different viewpoint on the subject of art and activism.
My learning was impacted by interacting with fellow Arts Scholars in some of my other classes. Though there aren’t many other Art Scholars in the classes I take, it’s always nice to see a friendly face whenever they do! This was especially nice when all of the classes were online because recognizing someone from Scholars was a really easy way to instantly have a friend in the class. I do wish that I was able to interact with Scholars more outside of class, but like I said, I don’t see many in the classes I’m taking. I know that lots of my fellow architecture majors are in various Scholars programs, but there are not many in Arts Scholars so it can be harder to make connections.
The biggest way that I contributed to the art scholars community this semester was my work as a peer mentor! I have seven amazing mentees that I got to get to know this semester and will be working with next semester as well! One of the ways that I connected with these students was through organizing a tour of campus before classes started! I teamed up with a couple of other mentors to lead what ended up being a group of about 15 art scholars freshman. We did a general tour as well as pointing out specific buildings to help the freshman find their classes. I did most of the talking and route-making for the group which was a challenge for me since I have social anxiety. I wish that I was able to connect more with my mentees, but it was challenging to balance organizing events with my regular schoolwork.
Scholars did bring me into contact with people or concepts that challenged my previous beliefs or opinions. Though my peers often have many of the same ideals and beliefs as I do, there is one instance where my beliefs were challenged. When ChArma came in to do their workshop I was initially a little uncomfortable because step dancing did not seem like something that I was comfortable with doing. I was under the impression that since it was not something that was a part of my culture it was not an artform that was open for me to practice. ChArma challenged this idea and showed me that step is open to anyone who is willing to give it a try as long as you are respectful of the artform!
Semester 4
It has been fun seeing my growth through looking at my resume/bio that I keep updated on my scholars website! I have been able to add things like being a scholar's peer mentor and being the manager of my local pool since I have begun college! The most noticeable difference is the format which I updated this semester after honing my professional and design skills through scholars. Getting to curate an exhibit for Artsfest also challenged me to grow in my oral, written, and artistic communication skills. I needed to combine all three in order to curate my exhibit in a way where it could be understood if one of the parts (oral or written) was missing. I had never had to write artist statements or artwork descriptions before so it was hard to get the hang of at first, but I think I improved a lot!
The trip to Artechouse this semester really changed my perception of how technology and art can work together. Though I do a lot of digital media work through my architecture courses, Artechouse combined the two disciplines in a way that I had never seen before! It was especially cool to get to talk to Eva on the subway there and back because she is majoring in immersive media design, which is basically what Artechouse was! Another way that my perception of art has been changed is through one of the pentathlon events I attended this semester where I got to go see Stephanie Beatriz give a talk! In this talk Stephanie talked a lot about her experience as a bisexual, latina woman working in tv and film. She discussed how her own bisexual identity lead to her character on the hit tv show Brooklyn 99 coming out as bisexual! This was really cool to me because it reminded me of the effect that you can have on people through your art.
The most influential way that my capstone project drew upon my time in art scholars is that I rediscovered my love of embroidery through a pentathlon event my freshman year! The event was run by my mentor at the time Cecilia and I ended up being the only one in attendance. This gave us the chance to really talk one-on-one about embroidery. This experience made me realize how much I remembered about embroidery from high school and how fun it was! This pentathlon event reignited my love of embroidery and led me to thinking about exploring my growth through embroidery, which eventually became my capstone project, “Growth”.
Art Scholars allowed me to participate in all sorts of new artforms from stepping, to immersive media, to podcast making, to even getting to curate my own exhibit! That being said, the way that art scholars reignited my love for embroidery is still the most meaningful to me!
One of the ways that Arts Scholars taught me how to collaborate effectively with those holding diverse artistic perspectives, interests, and abilities was through the comedy workshop I took this semester! In this workshop we were often required to work with fellow scholars to perform improv, comedy sketches, and eventually write and perform our own original comedy skit at Artsfest! Since the class was mostly freshman it forced me out of my comfort zone and I was able to meet and make people laugh with some pretty cool people! The most prevalent example of this is the skit that Simon, Elijah, and I wrote together and performed at Artsfest! I had never met either of them but by the end of the process we were joking around and super comfortable with each other!
One of the ways that my Scholars experience might inform my future is that I plan on continuing to embroider in my free time! I got to explore an artform that I otherwise might not have had time to play around with and I ended up falling in love with it! I have already started on my next piece which is a planet! Another way that Scholars will inform my future is the lessons that I learned about overcoming creative block and time management issues in CPSA250. Since my future career will focus heavily on the design process, it’s important to establish these methods early on in order to find the ones that work best for me! I was able to explore some of these methods, such as killing your darlings, through my work on my capstone project.
