Summer of Fun

This summer was amazing!! I spent the whole summer in San Angelo, Texas. Luckily, I was able to have an internship at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts as a museum educator. It was such a wonderful experience. Not only was I able to play with kids all summer but I was able to get a real look at what museum life is like. Megan DiRienzo and Rebekah Coleman (Bekah) were amazing mentors and they really opened my eyes to new ideas and ways of thinking. Bekah taught me so much this summer and had such a passion for teaching these kids.   Katie was my fellow intern and it turned out she was pretty much my twin. We even looked alike and the kids got us mixed up quite a bit. I don't know what I would have done without her this summer. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and we worked great as a team. Katie is an art history major at Baylor University and it was wonderful to be able to work side by side with her. It is inspiring to work with such wonderful women all summer!

I will have to say working with kids can be tiring but I learned so much and actually enjoyed teaching (who knew!) These children were sponges for knowledge. I spent one morning talking to the 7-9 year old class about animals and how artists are inspired by nature and they couldn't stop asking questions. I spent an hour teaching them and we didn't even get through all of the information we needed to cover. I worked with kids from ages 3 all the way up to high-schoolers and enjoyed all the age groups. It was really interesting trying to come up with projects for all the different age groups. We had to learn how to think on our feet and adapt to every situation imaginable.

The whole experience really opened my eyes to how amazing a child's imagination really is. They helped inspire many of the new ideas I have for this up coming semester and my senior show. I really hate that schools are cutting back on their art and music programs. These kids have amazing talent and it makes me sad that they do not have very many chances to explore that side of their mind. I know a lot of people do not appreciate or understand the reason behind children learning the arts. It is not the arts themselves that are important, it is the imagination that is needed to preform the arts. Imagination is what this society needs. Albert Einstein himself said, "I'm enough of an artist to draw freely on my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world." Someone once dreamed about a time when all the people of the globe could share information instantly. This was thought of long before the internet ever came about. The sky is no longer the limit. Only the power of our imagination is limited. As we get older we lose that thirst for imagination. We are so clouded by facts and absolutes that we are unable to get past what we know and believe. Children are naturally creative and if we don't help them expand that ability then how will ever be able to expand our knowledge of the world? Knowledge is learning about what we already know, art is about imagining what is possible.

I also got to spend all summer with my fiance, which was a blessing. He is a student at Angelo State University and works at the Alumni Center doing everything imaginable from advertising to planning events and creating every graphic imaginable. He also enjoys being a night time photographer. I also had the chance to work on some art work this summer when I wasn't working. The painting above is acrylic on canvas. I did this painting to helping AJ out with some of his advertisements and invitations for an upcoming event. It will also be up for auction at the Angelo State University Alumni Center this Fall.

This summer was definitely a blast and while having two overactive imaginations in the same town can be dangerous: mixing two artists for a summer can also be fun. Especially when we get bored...

Note: the only things in these pictures that is altered in Photoshop is the added light!