A Day in the Life of a Studio Art Major
8:15 a.m. My alarm goes off and I immediately roll out of bed because I purposefully put my phone out of my reach to force myself to actually get up on time. This doesn’t usually work because I’ll take my phone back to bed with me to check on any notifications, my email, and the news.
8:50 a.m. By this point I am usually out of bed, gotten dressed, and brushed my teeth. I’ll head downstairs to say good morning to my dog Denise (who is usually sleeping) and eat what I have every day for breakfast: a bowl of cereal.
9:10 a.m. This is the absolute latest I can leave my house if I want to get to my 9:40 class on time – I need to catch the 9:30 Silver Line shuttle that stops at Southside. My parking pass only allows me to park in Valentine Lot at Southside so I have to factor in the Silver Line schedule, unless I’m arriving after 4 p.m. which means I can park in Intercampus Lot, much closer to the main part of River Campus.
9:40 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. My first class of the day on Thursdays is in Sage Art Center (pictured above) and is called Gallery Practicum, a new 200-level studio art/art history class. The class is run by Megan Scheffer, the Gallery Manager for the Hartnett Gallery and Frontispace. Throughout the class, we’ve helped artists install their works in the galleries, researched potential artists who could exhibit in these spaces, toured the Memorial Art Gallery and learned about their curation strategies, and designed our own curatorial projects.
12:20 p.m. I only have ten minutes before my next class so I eat a granola bar I packed in my backpack while walking over to LeChase Hall. If Gallery Practicum gets out early I’ll speed walk over to Connections for a French toast bagel or Starbucks for a bacon egg and gouda sandwich.
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. My second class of the day is Queer Theory which I’m taking for my Take 5 program that I designed and got approved last fall. The class is relatively small and very reading and discussion heavy. We’ve read selections from prominent queer theorists such as Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, Gayle Rubin, and Jack Halberstam and done some projects such as a book report and current events presentation.
1:50 p.m. If I’m hungry or didn’t get a chance to eat earlier I’ll stop at Hillside for a snack before my final class of the day. The prices on the granola bars are extortionate so I opt for the little packet of mini pretzels or crackers with some cheese squares.
2:00 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. Finally, my last class of the day! It’s Senior Studio and Seminar I and it’s back at the Sage Art Center. All of the Class of 2023 studio art major seniors are required to take this class, along with Senior Studio and Seminar II in the spring where we will work on our thesis. Class time is a mix of art production time in our studio spaces, learning about other artists, writing and editing our artist statement, and working on our professional development with an art-centered CV, resume, and website. I am usually pretty tired at this point, especially if we are sitting in the warm dark room in the basement.
5:00 p.m. I am always super hungry after class and go to the dining hall as soon as it opens. I’ll check the menu online and usually choose Douglass.
5:30 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. I head over to the graphic arts suite (also the Campus Times office space) to get some work done and hang out with whoever is in there.
8:00 p.m. – 1 or 2 a.m. I spend the rest of the night at my friend’s house near Riverview to watch Thursday Night Football. Almost everyone there is in a football pool where we pick the winners for every week, which adds some more excitement and tension to the game. I don’t have any Friday classes (perks to not being a STEM major), so I will usually end up staying pretty late after the game.
2:30 a.m. I’m finally back home after a long day and after saying good night to Denise if she wakes up when I get home, I go straight upstairs to wash my face, brush and floss my teeth, and then sleep in until 10 a.m. Friday.