The final project is done! It went through a lot of iterations and got really stressful, but overall I’m pretty happy with the result. I’m glad everyone at The 86 likes it - I was really worried they wouldn’t since it’s an amateur art piece done by Biology, Psych, PoliSci, and Mechanical Engineering majors. I think that kind of adds to the meaning behind it though. You have the same everyday students that frequent the coffeeshop collaborating to incorporate elements that resonate with them as well as important aspects of The 86 itself. It was really interesting to see how all of our ideas came together with Monica and Chris’s in a way that reflected all of us. It was a challenge at times to try to incorporate the things they wanted in an artistic way that matched the overall feel of what we were attempting to create.

 

I think this whole experience has been really rewarding. I enjoyed exploring different mediums and methods of expression. My favorite individual art piece was the starry sky (does anything ever really beat the feeling of taking in hundreds of thousands of tiny specks of light?) , but in terms of what made me think more deeply I appreciated the self-symbolism piece. I did a lot of self-reflection with that piece and contemplated the ways in which I desire to grow. I hope to continue this reflection of  my personal journey through art, journaling, and discussions with others. I think that the first step towards personal growth is being open to change and criticism, something that I’ve been better at since entering college. I’m genuinely excited to see where I’m at a few years from now.

 

I’ve also learned that being judged for the things I create is extremely stressful and I have an even greater respect than I did before for people who create works of art that they put their heart and soul into. It’s rather terrifying to publicly display something you’ve worked on because it can invite a lot of criticism. Our project was a donated piece, but it was still scary. I keep saying I want to do creative things in my career, but I think I would need to get way better about not taking criticism too harshly and being more confident and resilient. I have some friends in DAAP and I honestly don’t know how they handle all of the critiques they have, especially the ones in front of the whole class where a professor dissects every aspect of their work. I guess these kinds of things are what will be experienced in the workplace, but it is still really nerve-wracking.

 

During this experience, I’ve enjoyed putting together this website to display our work as well as developing some of my leadership skills. Group projects are stressful, even with friends, and I tried to work on my ability to incorporate others ideas into a cohesive product. I also tried to work on group management skills. I wasn’t necessarily in charge of the project, but I did my best to help keep everything on track so that we could meet expectations and deadlines. In the future, I would love to take on a leadership position in an extracurricular, volunteer group, or job. I enjoy helping people work together and making sure everyone’s great ideas come to fruition. Going back to the website, it’s not the best, but I think it helps display our work this semester in an interactive and visual way. It also should help our honors advisors find all of our reflections and evidence of our learning. I enjoyed working on it for the most part and coming up with ways to organize everyone’s art and information in a way that was still aesthetically pleasing. I still have a lot of work to do if I want to be good at web design, but it’s definitely something I’ve been interested in for the sake of personal projects since middle school. In sixth grade, I designed a website for my independent art project that included pages about art tips, mediums to work with, and famous artists. I was pretty proud of it at the time, but it’s funny comparing it to stuff I’ve made recently.

 

Overall I am really grateful to have completed this experience with my friends, my art, and our community partner The 86. I look forward to pursuing similar projects either personally or in the community. I think it is extremely beneficial to have had the experience of collaborating with community partners at this point in my life. I worked on this project throughout the semester and also took the Innovation Inquiry class that partnered with the Cincinnati Zoo to design enrichment opportunities for some of the animals. Both of these experiences were amazing opportunities to work in a semi-professional setting, managing teams and developing communication and interdisciplinary skills. These things are not only fun for me, but will also help build the skills necessary to excel in my future career, whatever that may be.