A plethora of DIY pages and positivity accounts have posted about being creative during the shock of coronavirus. New crafts, dances and entertainment opportunities are provided with every refresh of a social media page and through this pandemic, the world has been reminded of the necessity of artists.
Art is in the music we listen to while doing our in-home workouts. It’s in the Netflix shows we binge and on the covers of books we read. It’s the package design on our seventh snack of the day and we all become designers when we rearrange our room on a daily basis.
However, staying both creative and positive becomes particularly challenging when students do not have the resources available to complete their work. With the closure of traditional classes at USD, students have been separated from their artworks, instruments and stages. There is uncertainty as to not only when, but how classes will resume within fine arts.
The simultaneous beauty and tragedy of art classes is that they require interaction, whether it’s interacting with the media of a studio art major, playing/singing/learning from other music majors, or the social interaction of theater performances. Each requires a level of interaction that we now find amiss.
As a graphic design major, I’m incredibly fortunate to have my work travel with me. Technology allows for my art to constantly be a few tapped keys and a click away, at all times. But many of my peers are not as fortunate. I have no doubt there are constant conversations occurring about the future of fine art students and our classes for this semester, yet I still ask that both the university and the readers of this article keep fine arts students in your thoughts as we all navigate this together.
I would like to also thank the Fine Art Faculty for their work through this pandemic; we all miss the FA and hope to be back with our studios, ensembles and casts.
