BREANNA CHIDEBELU
Arts Scholar
SEMESTER 1
"Expectations vs Reality"
As a freshman who is new to the college experience, I really enjoyed the Arts Scholars program this semester. It was cool that I met so many peers that are skilled in various art forms, like visual arts and music.
In terms of class structure and graded assignments, the Arts program was very easy to follow and learn new things. We gathered together in Zoom calls and discussed a different topic per week. We even had a “TA Time” where Arts Scholars met with their TAs and did fun group activities and games sometimes. It was a great way to relax and talk to our TAs to get to know them more. I liked my TA; she is funny and gave good advice on college life.
For this semester, I registered for ENGL272 (Writing Fiction: A Beginning Workshop) and CLAS170 (Greek and Roman Mythology), two Arts-related courses. In CLAS170, I learned about different Greek myths and how they connected to Ancient Greek culture. Later on, I read Roman myths. It was interesting to look at various Greek vases and containers that illustrated different myths and deities. The content I learned in CLAS170 connected to Arts Scholars in that I learned about different purposes for Greek vases. In CPSA, I learned that art can encourage change and achieve different purposes in society, and in CLAS170, Greek vases were used to tell stories and some had functional value.
Currently, I live at home, not on campus. Even though I wasn’t on campus, I still got to experience University life. I joined a few academic and recreational organizations and got to meet new friends. My current vision of University life was different from when I was in high school. I will again be staying at home next semester, so much of my views will not change. Hopefully, in sophomore year, I will live in Bel Air Hall.
The University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic fit my expectations. I’m at home, but I have seen ways that UMD set new guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID. UMD set up a COVID-19 dashboard where students can see things like the amount of cases, tests administered, and campus density. UMD also encourages students to self-monitor for symptoms and requires testing.
One memorable moment for me in Arts Scholars was the Studio A field trip hosted by M and Emil. They taught us about zines and what zines can be used for. The group that were a part of this field trip got to make their own zines and show them to everyone. One thing I learned in that field trip was how zines can be used for different reasons (eg. telling stories, visual art, social justice issues, raising awareness).
Image Source: Wix.com
SEMESTER 2
“Freshmen Time Capsule”
As the second semester of my first year as a college student comes to an end, I think about the things I learned in my major and all the concepts I was taught in the Arts Scholars program. Even though my first year at UMD was spent at home, I am looking forward to returning to campus this upcoming fall and seeing all the faculty and fellow Scholars face-to-face.
In my other major courses, I was able to develop good relationships with my professors and TAs. Going to my professors’ office hours was a great way to build strong relationships; I got to know them more and ask questions about the content that was mentioned in lecture. In my orgo 1 class, I took advantage of the various discussion sections and asynchronous videos that were available to understand the content I was learning. For any incoming freshmen, I suggest you visit your professors during office hours.
Even though I have not met other Scholars in-person, I was able to make friends with other Scholars who share the same interests as me. I like to draw, paint, and explore the visual arts, and through the workshop that I attended, I met other Scholars who also liked drawing. As a UMD student who just finished her first year, I was able to talk to my new friends through large Groupchats and we shared our work through the discussion assignments we had.
Arts Scholars has fostered “community” and “artistic engagement” by letting each individual pick and attend a different workshop that best fits their artistic interests. There were Workshops that focused on a specific art form or central idea (drawing, music, wire sculpting, Greek myth, photography) and Scholars got to meet every week in small groups to participate in various activities. When I was in the Art Therapy workshop with other Scholars, all of us learned about the six basic emotions and stress management. We also created different artworks that were based on the different emotions we discussed. Allowing each workshop participant to have their own way of expressing different emotions is a great example of “artistic engagement” since we were able to illustrate our artworks using various art media and be creative about the subject matter. When I was drawing my happiness collage/quilt, I emphasized my favorite hobbies and colors throughout the piece.
Artifacts in Gallery Format
SEMESTER 3
Currently a sophomore Arts Scholar, this is my first time experiencing the scholars program in-person after 18 months indoors. It is truly another different experience.
In this semester, I prepared for my Capstone project through different writing studies and research and it gave me a newer understanding about the research process and design planning. I initiated my creative process by thinking about all the things I like (painting, watching magical fiction, sci-fi, anime, cartoon shows, classical music, etc) and brainstorming possible projects I can do with my favorite things. I can do any type of large project with just a small idea.
Along with the Fall Colloquium, I took another arts-related course which was ARTH 261: Monuments, Monumentality, and the Art of Memorial. This was my first time taking an art history class so I didn't know what to expect, but in the end, I enjoyed the course and Professor Korobkin and the TAs were very kind. The course taught me how to analyze different monuments from over the world, and ponder about why they were built and what messages do they convey to the audience. One important concept that was discussed in Arts Scholars is how art can be used as social-political commentary, especially on issues like racism, pandemic and world health, environment restoration, and other things. In ARTH 261, I have seen monuments and memorials that comment on these similar global issues and commemorate past events and individuals. From ARTH 261, I learned how to better analyze monumental forms and the importance of memorialization and remembrance. It's important to memorialize history so that we can look back on it and reflect.
One way I was able to contribute in the Scholars program was through field trips. In this semester, I had the opportunity to go to field trips and museums in-person. For the field trip, I went with a group of fellow scholars to Washington DC to participate in a scavenger hunt to explore the area and see the statues, Smithsonian museum exhibits, and national landmarks. I liked it and I enjoyed being outside, seeing DC after staying in home for so long. My group had a GroupMe where we were able to share images of landmarks and artwork that were in our scavenger hunt list. I was able to contribute to my group by sending pictures of artworks and landmarks that were in the list, like the statues in the Sculpture Garden and the exhibits in the American Art Museum and National gallery of Art.
The arts scholars program has taught me how to interact with different art forms and think about how they can encourage change in society. All types of art have their own unique way of expressing ideas, goals, the past, present, and future.
**Image of me at the Freer Gallery
SEMESTER 4
Program Synthesis
During my last semester in Arts Scholars, I had the chance to work on my individual Capstone project, which involved fairies and science fields. It was a fun experience.
The semester reflections illustrate my growth in Arts Scholars. In my first semester reflection, I talked about my experience being a first year Scholar in a virtual setting. Even though my entire first year was virtual, I had the chance to participate in the fun activities Arts Scholars offered. The reflections for semesters 2 and 3 really show my development of expressing my thoughts in written form. In the more recent reflections (semesters 2 and 3), I was able to connect the concepts learned in Arts Scholars to my other courses and personal life.
One way my perceptions of art have been influenced is through the event I attended with Alina Collins Maldonado. In her theatrical piece, Maldonado expressed the familial connection between mother and daughter through portraying different women, each with their own personalities and mannerisms. It was cool to see how generational relationships were expressed in artistic form. Another thing that changed my perspective on art is learning about silent films and music in the “Music in Film” workshop. I participated in that workshop and we learned how silence can have a big impact on a scene, just like a piece of orchestral music would in a movie scene.
In one previous colloquium, I did a Capstone study assignment researching potential topics and inspirations for my capstone plans. The research helped me in finding many topics that I developed more closely, and sources that I could gain inspiration. From a few sources, I learned about the impacts of different art movements, and how visual arts impact fictional and mythical storytelling. These two concepts helped me in developing a capstone about fairies drawn in the style of art nouveau.
Along with Capstone, I had the opportunity to deepen my interests in various art forms (drawing, music, theater, etc). Throughout the semester, I attended the weekly workshop “Music in Film”, led by Jenna. At first, I wasn’t confident in making small music scores, mostly because I didn’t know how to compose music. I also didn’t have much knowledge about film score composers, only the popular ones (eg. Hans Zimmer, Star Wars score). Over time, however, I got better at creating small musical pieces for films I like. The Music workshop introduced me to the history of film music and music-making software (like Soundtrap). I believe that I gained new skills in music composition and analyzing music and emotion in a scene.
Even though this is my last semester in Arts Scholars, I will apply the knowledge I gained here to future projects. I learned a lot about guiding your own creative process, and similar practices exist in project creation. For my capstone, I guided my creative process through practicing Adobe Illustrator’s drawing and coloring tools. In the future, I want to continue using Adobe products to become a better digital artist.
