My capstone centered around my position as the Art Liaison for University Honors with the MSC Visual Arts Committee (MSC VAC). I will be an art curator, making ideally three exhibits this school year in the first-floor lobby of Henderson Hall. I will be working under the advisor for the MSC VAC and seeking some advice from the experienced committee members when it comes to responsibilities like negotiating loans or seeking out artists. I will be responsible for curation, which in my research and meetings so far, will include acquiring art, negotiating loans, finding artists, designing exhibit themes and narratives, knowing my audience, and doing surveys of Honors students to measure interest. I will organize meetings, receptions, workshops, in-exhibit activities, artist visits, and attending events and meetings regarding the Visual Arts Committee in order to sponsor their goals for the year as well.

I will use my academic experience as both an Honors student and an Art student to best curate exhibits to expand the horizons of other Honors students, as well as interest them and bring them joy. I feel that my time spent in Honors classes has suited me to both critically think about what art to show and promote, as well as what art would be appreciated by my fellow Honors students. I will use the connections I have made in my Honors classes to get to know my audience and their interests. I took an Art/Communications class as an Honors class that spiked my interest in art theory, curation, and art history—though I had long been an artist and appreciative of art. This class gave me more articulate visions for my personal art, and offered me the background to better appreciate and understand art.

I find that we as students, but also as people, can slowly limit ourselves with labels—and that is an issue I hope to combat with this capstone. I want to focus on art that both appeals to academic minds and art that would draw such individuals further out of their comfort zones in an interdisciplinary, creative way.

I am thrilled to serve A&M and LAUNCH in this capacity. I am excited to work with MSC VAC members and learn from their experiences, as I have met them, and they seem kind and knowledgeable. I hope to grow personally but to actively invite my fellow students into this journey with me. I find that life is best lived when it is full of the love of many things. I am a firm believer in loving many things, embracing the title of ‘amateur,’ and surrounding oneself with beauty and goodness—this I hope to embody in the art exhibits to be housed in Henderson Hall.