Greetings from Sonia Wessen.
A serious expression for a seriously involved class.
I’ll introduce myself with some flavorful fun facts. The smell of diesel fuel invariably makes me envision ice cream trucks. I am adopted from China, but also a fourth-generation Ole. I love walking on beaches, but hate swimming. I will groove out both to classical and metal music (and a lot in between). I’m left-handed and my handwriting is subsequently terrible. As I have just demonstrated, I am always spouting tangential details.
Otty is my stuffed otter. I know so many people love pets, and he’s the closest thing I’ve got…
Now let us move on to course-relevant information:
Why am I taking ID 242? I’m a studio art major. I personally prefer art appreciation, the actual process of making art, and learning about techniques. However, I know that I must learn about the business side of things if I’m going to use such education professionally. As humans, artists must work with people, for people. They cannot generate, spread, and sustain art in a void. Engaging with the world around the art itself requires varying levels of skill in self-advocacy, entrepreneurship, building community and personal connections, funding and money management, marketing to clients and audiences, presenting projects and proposals to both individuals and groups, committing both the mind and heart to a cause, and independent research into current events.
I look forward to all the guest consultations! I remember having attended several Smithsonian museums when I was in fourth grade. Of course I was impressed, but I had no idea how everything was obtained and managed. The stories behind the art are often as, if not more, interesting than the physical objects and basic information-plaques. Talking with living, breathing individuals will really help show us the art world as cooperative, capable of powering social change, and extremely diverse in goals and domains. I have taken two art history courses (Museum Controversies and Art Since 1945) that emphasized that the art world has an underbelly of plutocratic control and normative stubbornness. I heard in my Rock Music and Romanticism course of musicians becoming disillusioned when audiences pressure them to follow that demographic’s political or artistic trends. It’s time for me to look up toward the light!
I am not so confident in my ability to enthusiastically dive into communities and causes. I am mediocre at marketing myself due to a relative lack of experience in two ways. Firstly, my résumé is very uninspiring. I worry about my immediate usefulness to any project, which undermines my confidence. Secondly, I dislike (what my juvenile reactions call) “putting on appearances” and “sucking up to audiences in order to get ahead”- no matter how logically necessary and technically truthful such speeches and attitudes would be. Therefore, I have barely practiced those skills in my whole life. Additionally, I’m naturally a bit of a loner. I have never actively participated in online communities, academic or cause-oriented clubs, making many friends at a time, or other group things. My identity is left uncommitted; I have trouble gathering the enthusiasm and interpersonal relationships to dedicate myself wholeheartedly to any cause. Summarizing my worries about the course: I think I’ll need to make serious efforts to search for and reach out to an organization or community I really believe in. Once I find one, I think it’ll get easier.
So what skills, experiences, areas of expertise, or vocational interests do I bring to the course? Again, I’m a studio art major. I’m best at making art, mainly in 2D but also decently in 3D and digital formats. At least I got an inkling of how expensive even basic materials can get. I did well in both of my previously mentioned art history courses, too, which I think have given me some background into the management, publicity, and social sides of art. I digitally interned over the summer of 2020 with a St. Olaf alumnus by illustrating his children’s book (it’s titled “The Scab Faerie”, and is available on the author’s personal website as well as Amazon), and the work included a couple of short meetings with a marketing/publishing team. I have also taken a couple of architecture courses that highlighted the importance of working with clients’ specific wishes and needs, and managing funds and code laws. I have ended up bending blueprint ideas into pretzels over “little” things like the required slope of wheelchair ramps- problem-solving is hard whether it’s mathematical, personal, or organizational!
https://magnusonedstudio.ch/book/scab_faerie/
If you’re bothering to read my blog posts, let’s hope my “hello” does not end in a final “goodbye”!