Four weeks after the close of Skittles, the second annual Student of Color art show, several of the participating artists reflected on the purpose of the show and its place among studio art opportunities within the University.
Mike Bolds ’08, who exhibited a mixed-media piece in the show, planned to major in Art Studio until the second semester of his sophomore year, at which point he decided that he did not want to put his “time and talents through the Eurocentric filters available in the [Art Studio] department.”
The description of the major seems to support Bolds’s statement. Art Studio majors must take at least five Art Studio classes and four semesters of art history (only one of which must be “non-Western”). The Art History major requires that students reach proficiency in a foreign language. However, prospective majors are encouraged to not fulfill this requirement with Spanish, since, according to the major website, “Iberian and Latin American art are not represented in the curriculum.”
Bolds decided against pursuing the Art Studio major because he felt the standards and expectations of the department conflicted with his own.
“[I did not want to] inculcate a worldview towards art, professionalism, and formal discipline that contradicts my inspiration and experiences,” Bolds said.
Consuelo Gonzales ’08, who exhibited three pieces in Skittles, said that she, too, considered the Art Studio major. She eventually decided against it for a number of reasons, including the cost of supplies and the limited view of the department. She cited the experience of another Skittles artist who was barred access from a Painting I class.
“Isn’t art in itself a process of growth and understanding?” Gonzales asked, referring to the purpose of Art Studio classes.
In addiation to citing their own experiences, both artists expressed concerns about the way in which the Art Studio major is designed. Gonzales praised the Skittles show, desiring to see it expand to the larger gallery space and to occur once each semester. She stressed, however, the need for more opportunities like it.
“Students of Color are equally as talented and committed to creative forms of expression as those who have undergone the formal artistic course training Wesleyan offers, and…fails to offer,” Gonzales said.
Bolds, who spoke about the insufficient range of media and styles available in the major and voiced complaints similar to Gonzales’s, added that the department’s shortcomings speak to larger issues within and beyond the University.
“These perceptive limitations obscure the department’s awareness of a fuller student artists’ community, though such a phenomenon is certainly not unique to Wesleyan,” Bolds said.
Both Bolds and Gonzales felt that Skittles acts as a key outlet for Student of Color artists at Wesleyan.
“[The show is] a critical venue for student artists of color to…dialogue with one another through individual and collective expression,” Bolds said.
Gonzales, stressing the potential of art as a “safe space,” added that the show addressess necessary questions regarding the status of Student of Color artists on campus.
“What does this event have to say about the visibility of the Student of Color community in the art community?” Gonzales asked.
Despite the volume of work and level of attendance at this year’s Skittles show, Bolds insists that deeper issues of institutional support remain unaddressed.
“I believe Wesleyan does provide adequate opportunities through the promotion of events such as Skittles,” he said. “However, adequate opportunity does not necessarily imply that there is a support system for success.”
Leave a Reply