Monday, September 28, 1998
Art students enticed by creative freedom
ON-CAMPUS: Curriculum offers ability to explore different views,
interests
By Laura Noguera
Daily Bruin Staff
They get down and dirty in their tools – plaster, clay and
paint. With kindergarten memories of smocks and finger painting,
UCLA’s art students are making their nostalgia reality, creating
whatever their hearts desire and all the while receiving support
and encouragement from UCLA’s art department.
This fall 58 freshmen begin their four-year dedication to an art
department that plans to milk and explore much of their creative
juices without placing any inhibiting guidelines.
"The classes aren’t there to force you into anything. They just
help you along," says John Kanell, a second-year art student. "It’s
kind of like the invisible hand guiding you."
The program takes artists through a variety of classes in which
professors applaud students’ impressions rather than their
expertise when working with various mediums.
"The faculty is interested in the strength of (the students’)
ideas," says Caron Cronin, UCLA arts admissions officer. "More so
than their mastery over a medium. That tends to come with
time."
Students are never restricted to using only the materials they
are familiar with. When students have an attainable vision but are
uncertain of how to make it into reality, they go to one of the art
labs, finding help from experienced teaching assistants or lab
technicians.
Art students are constantly amused, engrossed in their work and
imagination. They do not find too much leisure time to experience
boredom. That is, until they venture into UCLA’s other departments
to satisfy the art major’s general education requirements.
"During lectures I get so bored. All other classes seem kind of
deadening," Kanell says. "I’ve become sort of spoiled."
However, art classes are not easy A’s, many requiring major
projects throughout the quarter. Students spend long hours in the
art labs and studios putting their inspiration into their
projects.
"I didn’t realize until the very end of the quarter that I was
working like a dog everyday," Kanell says. "I didn’t notice because
it was so enjoyable."
Art students do have gratifying times, basking in their
professors’ individual attention in their 15-student average
classes. And in the labs and workshops, socializing is as much a
priority as concentration.
"The department is … a relatively small, close environment.
Students know each other and they know each other’s work," Cronin
says. "It makes for a very nice community."
The art department’s family atmosphere is a comforting aspect to
prospective freshmen who have anxieties about going to a school as
large as UCLA. However, art students everywhere share an even
larger uncertainty when deciding on whether to enter an art
program.
"I think the biggest concern on everyone’s mind, prospective,
current or graduate, is "What kind of a job am I going to be able
to get?" says Jenny Woo, an art department recruiting director.
"That is the biggest thing."
Although many students prepare during high school and before to
get into art programs like UCLA’s, some acted on their creativity
when the art program came to them. Kanell is one student who never
planned to go into art, but decided to follow in his father’s
artistic footsteps and apply to UCLA’s art department.
"I kind of just fell into it accidentally," Kanell says. "When I
got the letter asking for (slides of my work) I was really shocked.
I had to go out and buy all these supplies."
As part of the admissions process, the art department requires
that all applicants submit five slides of their best work.
Three-fourths of last year’s high school applicants were turned
away, making the students’ submitted works an important criterion
for acceptance.
"I encourage students to put what they feel most strongly about
in their portfolio," Cronin says. "That tends to convey their
interests best."
Many of the accepted students have opportunities to attend other
prestigious universities. However, students continue to enter
UCLA’s nationally acclaimed art department.
Art students know that they are not the highest paid UCLA
graduates and even have reason to worry about unemployment. But for
now, they are doing what they love during their college careers and
can taunt their peers majoring in chemistry.
"It’s like, ‘You have finals?’ Ha ha," Kanell says. "Art majors
have the last laugh."
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Second-year art student John Kanell loves the freedom his major
allows.
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