McGregor:

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a recent graduate of the Individualized Master of Arts program – I graduated last March. I earned a master’s in Visual Arts. And I had an exhibition at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center just after my graduation.

I’m an adjunct instructor at the Columbus College of Art and Design. I work in their Department of Foundation Studies teaching color theory and design. It’s a three-hour course primarily made up of freshmen. I also teach in the drawing and painting studios at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus.

I’ve been working most of my life. When I was 16-years-old I got my cosmetology license. My mother was a hair stylist, and that’s what everybody thought I was going to be too. But, I knew it wasn’t quite right. I was always interested in the arts as a child, although my family didn’t really support that part of life.

When I was 30 years old, I decided to pursue art more extensively. I was married and I had two daughters when I started taking college classes at the Columbus College of Art and Design. I was in my thirties at that time so I was more of a non-traditional student I guess, compared to the usual 20-year-olds. I graduated with a degree in Advertising Design and Illustration and I went to work.

It was okay. After I started working in the field, I wasn’t as excited about it. I realized that I really didn’t like working for advertising agencies and the freelance work wasn’t that consistent. So, I ended up going back to doing hairstyling to fill in and support my family. And I also did illustration work on the side.

Around the year 2000, I decided to get back into my artwork full-time. I was hired at the Columbus College of Art and Design as an adjunct instructor. And I found that I really enjoyed the classroom. I also started teaching at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus.

I realized, though, that I needed to pursue my master’s degree. It’s part of the criteria now, to be able to teach at the college level. I realized how much I enjoyed teaching, and that is what pushed me to look into the various master’s programs. ^Top

Why did you choose McGregor?

My work and my career had all evolved to the point where I was looking for a master’s program. That’s when a friend and student of mine who is an art therapist told me that she attended McGregor. I think she attended 10 or 15 years ago.

Well, I had applied to another university. It was just very chaotic and impersonal and it really turned me off. They lost my resume. They lost the information I sent them. It was really irritating me. So, my friend mentioned McGregor.

I liked the idea of being in a smaller class. That’s one of the reasons I like the Columbus College of Art and Design – it’s a private, smaller school. So, that was a big selling point. I also liked that I had control over the curriculum. I liked the idea of choosing my professors. You know, that’s really significant.

When I decided to do this – it was really significant. I think a lot of people go into something just wanting to get it over with. I don’t agree with that. I think that if you’ve taken the time and are spending the money then you should really enjoy it and immerse yourself in it. So, I wanted to be involved with something that I could still have a little control over. And I wanted to really get something out of it and to enjoy it. I wanted to enhance what I already knew, to expand my experiences. And I wanted to make it personal.

And I think it’s very practical. You can select your professors. And I think that it’s creative in a sense that you can choose what you want to learn and how you want do it. I think those are the main things that appealed to me. ^Top

How did you develop your program?

Well, through a lot of personal reflection and asking myself “What do I want to get out of this? How is it going to enhance what I’m doing?” It certainly wasn’t random. It had to do with my teaching, and it had to do with my actual art. I wanted something that would cover those two things. What I teach is very, very much connected to my artwork.

I wanted something that was going to enhance my teaching and my artwork. That was a big part of it. Visual art is a very broad field. So, I really thought about the historical context of it to help me decide what I really wanted to study.

There are hundreds of years to cover, hundreds of years of art that you could really learn about. And you don’t have all the time in the world, so you have to focus on something that is relevant to you. You have to zero in on what’s going to really enhance your personal interests and tastes, and on how it’s going to enhance your work. Making it personal was a biggie for me.

I chose instructors that were artists – all local, all from Columbus, all very intelligent. I had known most of them – or about them – for at least six or seven years on a professional level. I knew about their work ethics and their personal philosophies either because I had heard about them or from discussions I had with them. Basically, I knew enough about them to know that I wanted to work with them. It was amazing.

My thesis topic had to do with post modernism and feminist consciousness. I created a very large piece of art and it was called “The Kosode Scroll.” A kosode is a precursor to the modern kimono. My art is a 4.25-foot by 33-foot paper scroll, and it was done as collage and water color. It was on exhibition at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus. My piece is about the possibilities of post modernism and feminist consciousness.

And that particular piece of art probably would have not been on exhibition 20 years ago. Our criteria and the way we feel about art, it has all changed since I was in high school and since I was in my thirties. It was very stifling toward including any kind of craft or decorative work or multi-cultural influences. So that was the area of my study – I was interested because of the change that has occurred.

I wrote my thesis looking historically, and looking at the grand scheme of things and how we define post modernism. I explored the idea of feminism and post modernism, and how it’s all linked in the sense of women being acknowledged in the art world. All of those things were very interesting to look into. ^Top

How did Midwest help you professionally?

Oh, yeah – although personally and professionally are really hard to distinguish. My art is who I am. I don’t think a lot of people can say that about their work. I mean, this is integrated so strongly into my life. That’s why it is so fulfilling.

There is a sense of compassion that’s built in any kind of relationship. I think that you know those are significant growth markers, in a sense of journey and what has happened.

I suppose personally, the biggie is that it develops your self-confidence. That’s important on a personal level, but also professionally, like in a classroom or at the studio.

Besides the confidence you gain, the biggest thing is a matter of identity. Investigating, in the sense of a visual artist, where you stand in the historical context of things is extremely significant. It has a really direct impact on what kind of work you do and how you fit into the scheme of things.

I think I grew in how I relate to my students too. I think I have a little more compassion in the classroom now. My instructors were extremely understanding. Their standards were very high, but they were also very compassionate. That is something that I truly reflected on about all of them. I think they helped me to relate to my own student body, to the people that I see in the classroom. ^Top

Did you have an ‘Aha Moment’ at McGregor?

The importance of mentorship. I think that is really significant – that sense of someone guiding or supporting you. I think that’s extremely important and I didn’t realized how much until I was involved in this.

Another thing that I was amazed about is how I think about the process of doing art. I was at a point in my career where I could technically execute just about anything. But for this program, I was reading and doing research and it gave my work much stronger direction and more depth. That kind of surprised me because I had always worked under the impression that doing great art was a matter doing a lot of art.

For this program, I did a tremendous amount of writing, research, and some art. The art that I did do, towards the end – well, I don’t think it would have the strength that it has without the writing and research that I did. Part of it is in exhibition right now, and I don’t think that it would have had that kind of strength if I didn’t have this experience. That was a surprise – that my studies supported the actual creation of the art. ^Top

What advice would you give to a new student?

The biggie that I tell my students all time is commitment. Commit yourself to seeing it through. That’s probably the biggest thing. Not everything is going to smoothly either; nothing runs perfectly. There are people that you can talk to. Just commit yourself and take on the responsibility to question things you don’t understand and to be honest.

And enjoy it, and see what happens. Some people think they should just get it over with. And I think you get tired, and sometimes you will feel like that. But, it’s really a gift that you're giving yourself – this education and the opportunity to do a lot of things. Enjoy it. It’s amazing.

Take responsibility for your self-fulfillment, for your life, for your happiness.
Everybody has responsibilities. It doesn’t matter – single, married, whatever. I think that the majority of people who get involved in a program like this are working professionals. It isn’t like you’re in your 20s, and you’re going to college, and your parents are paying for it, and that’s all you have to focus on. It’s not like that when you take on something like this. You have to commit yourself, and that’s all part of the process. You have to have a tremendous amount of self-discipline. You have to be disciplined and have a solid work ethic.

One of the things that was mentioned to me when I first started the program was to allow for change. You know, allow for things to evolve. Don’t be so rigid with it. Sometimes you have an experience and something else will open up that you find really, really interesting. Instead of trying to micromanage your program so explicitly, just go with it. Be more organic about it. You do need a plan, and it is so important to stay on course – but don’t be afraid of what may evolve out of it. You don’t really know what your thesis is really going to be about until you’ve traveled through this journey. ^Top