下降，扎根，上升: Rachel Means ’08 Comes Into Her Own as an Artist
2021年Helen Cudahy Niblack '42艺术系列讲座
瑞秋·梅斯08年要去当医生. 从福克斯克罗夫特毕业后, she headed for Davidson and began to fulfill that childhood dream by taking a pre-med curriculum, even as she continued her art studies with an art scholarship. When she began to struggle on the pre-med side and encountered some clear signs that being a doctor was not the path for her, she resisted letting go of that long-held desire; she pressed on. 和, despite art classes since childhood and obvious talent, Rachel admits it took a while to embrace herself as an artist. Finally, in her junior year, those realizations came to fruition after a study-abroad trip to Zambia. Rachel graduated with a major in Studio Art and began the process of embracing this new direction for her life — a process she advises is ongoing throughout one’s life.
瑞秋·梅斯08年要去当医生. 从福克斯克罗夫特毕业后, she headed for Davidson and began to fulfill that childhood dream by taking a pre-med curriculum, even as she continued her art studies with an art scholarship. When she began to struggle on the pre-med side and encountered some clear signs that being a doctor was not the path for her, she resisted letting go of that long-held desire; she pressed on. 和, despite art classes since childhood and obvious talent, Rachel admits it took a while to embrace herself as an artist. Finally, in her junior year, those realizations came to fruition after a study-abroad trip to Zambia. Rachel graduated with a major in Studio Art and began the process of embracing this new direction for her life — a process she advises is ongoing throughout one’s life.
Post-graduation was a time of uncertainty with a variety of jobs, some related — some not so much — to her freshly minted Studio Art degree, 对医学很感兴趣. 他们当中有教美术的, 幼儿发展教师, 学生, 梅西百货床垫专员, 志愿者, 和艺术品供应商. It was her job bringing the benefits of the arts to people in Tampa General Hospital, 虽然, that ultimately provided an epiphany of sorts for Rachel. While seated at the bedside of one of her hospitalized clients, 她意识到, “I was encouraging people to embrace their creative selves while I’ve yet to embrace that fully in myself.”
Recognizing this as a turning point in her journey and with the 支持 of her family — critical throughout her life, but especially so during this time — Rachel turned toward her Christian faith and scripture, which helped her find joy and rediscover her 调用. It is at this time that she dedicated herself to a career in art.
当她对这条新道路变得更加有意识时, 她和其他艺术家谈过, 被问到作为一个艺术家意味着什么, 寻求建议, and settled on the next step of her journey: a graduate degree in art. Rachel went to the Pennsylvania Academy of the 美术 (PAFA) with a newfound sense of purpose, 能源, 和快乐. 正如她所说，她“一头扎进去”, not only taking classes but coordinating the visiting artist program. 她与同学和教员建立了联系, 参加艺术展览, 尝试艺术装置, 充分利用了费城提供的一切. 通过毕业, she was excited to share her work with her family and 朋友 and set off toward new artistic horizons.
她毕业后的第一站是奥斯汀, TX, where she was a studio assistant for Deborah Roberts, one of the visiting artists for the program she coordinated at PAFA. 从那里, 她参加了群展, 驻地艺术家住在卡里索佐吗, NM, 然后, 兜了一圈, was a 访问ing Artist herself at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in Belton, TX. Mixed media and installation were now her techniques of choice. Drawing became a way for Rachel to reflect on her mixed media pieces, 最终成为碎片.
她最近的一件装置作品名为， 寂静，下面隐藏着什么, was a virtual exhibit and a 协作 with several other artists, 包括一个摄像师和一个音乐家. 她说, “这是出于信仰, 激情, 调用, 支持, 协作, 挫折, 兴奋, 损失, 疼痛, 爱, and just a lot of joy … I’m just so proud to see the way it came to completion.” Her most recent installation involved a trailer-sized cage, exposed to the elements 24-7. 题为 杂草丛生的, she wanted to confront and get beyond the confines of the cage with wire and plants, 主要是茉莉花. 这个项目展出了几个月, 所以有时候这感觉像是一种义务, 和其他人, tending to the plants was a gentle tender experience that she didn’t expect. 最后, 因为这个项目被取消了, artist 朋友 took some of the plants for their studios, 所以 杂草丛生的 通过他们活下去.
随着她的谈话逐渐结束, Rachel shared some important and wise advice: “Whatever journey you’re on, 它真的会出现意想不到的转折. 我想是那些意想不到的转折, it’s important to still be intentional and 然后 also be patient with ourselves.” She also advised us to appreciate the people who see things in us that we don’t see in ourselves yet, 不管是家庭, 朋友, 或教师. She implored us to rest and not give up, and reminded us that our presence matters.
灵感来自鲁比·考尔的一首诗, “太阳和她的花朵,瑞秋分享的最后一段叫做 下降，扎根，上升. She stressed that our journeys will include these three things, 也许顺序不同, 也许会添加一些元素, 就像她的旅程一样, encouraging each of us to embrace the process and enjoy how it all unfolds.
Established in 2007 by Austi Brown ’73 in memory of her mother, the Helen Cudahy Niblack ’42 Arts Lecture Series seeks to bring a variety of fine, 文学, 执行, and practical artists and designers to Foxcroft to share their work, 创造过程的本质, and the breadth of artistic pursuits with both 学生s and the community. It has sponsored visits by a Broadway actor and director, 牛仔冠军诗人, 来自塞内加尔和纽约的嘻哈艺术家, 音乐家, 说书人, 和更多的.
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