From Apprehension to Eagerness

When I first walked into our classroom, I was intimidated. I know nothing about art, but here I am in a class called the Art of Steve Prince. As the class began my feelings did not improve. Instead, it intensified when the class broke into smaller groups to analyze Steve Prince’s art. I did not know what I was supposed to look at and what to say about it. When class concluded I was wondering if I made the right decision of enrolling into the course. However, what made everything click was Steve Prince visiting SUNY Geneseo.

Beginning the community art project “Urban Garden” made me feel awakened with creative energy. I was no longer intimidated. When Steve Prince began discussing his work with such passion, it was inspiring. He envisioned this project that had two canvases facing one another; one side was the positive future that our country can have. The other wall was all the negative aspects. Seeing the project come together inspired me to develop new tools while he was there such as thinking outside the box with drawing. Prince’s visit helped me to understand his artwork and his process. Instead of feeling intimidated by a successful artist, I started to feel a little bit more confident with myself, and only have some apprehension about the course.

Then, after Steve Prince left our college, I wondered: what’s next for the class? Wasting no time our class started analyzing “Urban Mix Tape” one of Prince’s artwork. Before meeting Steve Prince and taking this course, I would’ve looked at the artwork and just marveled at it wondering what it meant. But when Professor McCoy asked our class to dissect it to grasp what Steve Prince is trying to say, I knew where to begin. I started seeing hidden symbols like the doves and cross in his artwork and the musical elements in it to try and make sense of the artwork. Leaving class, I no longer felt apprehensive. I felt confident that I made the right choice to take INTD 288.

This course will push me out of my comfort zone for the better. It will make me see art in different ways. In addition, I expect this course will push me to be more involved with the course material and voice my opinions out loud than keeping them on the inside. It will be a challenge for me to articulate my thoughts about art since I have no prior experience with it. However, I am eager to learn and try to expand my tools while I am in this course.

I believe this course fits my learning goals. My goals as a student are to improve my writing and to further my knowledge of different literature and artists. INTD 288 has already exposed me to various artists like Steve Prince. In addition, it has exposed me to the group of “Baby Dolls” in New Orleans in the anthology Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans. This group is a “group of black women and men who used New Orleans street-masking tradition as a unique form of fun and self-expression against a backdrop of legal and social racial discrimination” (XVII). Reading about the Baby Dolls has awakened me to another world which I have never explored until now. This course will lead me on an adventure that will expand my knowledge of history in America and of literature. I am eager to see how much I will learn in this semester.

 

 

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