Art Education + Sculpture
Class of 2010
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Why did you choose to attend RMCAD?

Small college, great interactive and professional environment, and a school whose departments are linked cohesively together.

Which classes have you found the most surprising or useful?

With regards to Foundations classes, I have discovered an environment of free learning and growth. An environment where the teacher helps the students produce their own work, gives them ideas but never tells them what to do.

I learned my own work ethic from these classes—I learned that if I cared about something and I loved it, then I should take that same amount of time and love in producing it. My most influential class at RMCAD was Intro to Art Ed—it was a class that became my world. It was a stepping stone in becoming comfortable as a transfer student and a place where my voice would be heard.

What did your favorite professor do to earn your respect or admiration?

I have two favorite professors, one in the Art Ed department and the other in the Fine Arts department. They both share the same qualities: each is distinguished in their fields, each love art, and each care about each and every student they interact with. These professors do not "teach"—they tell stories about their lives, about their careers, and they become friends and mentors because of this. As for myself, I have learned that it is better to become a mentor than a teacher who sits and lectures.

Tell us about a favorite project you've worked on.

I am a sculptor and I had practiced privately with stone work because there was inadequate teaching and facilities where I lived. I had the opportunity in my Sculpture practicum class to sculpt from alabaster. David Mesplé provided me with new tools, correct teaching, and out-of-class time to discover my talents with stone sculpting. It was a great experience.

How has RMCAD prepared you for what you want to do when you graduate?

I would love to pursue my teaching career as well as my professional art career and gain a Master's in teaching so that I might one day return to RMCAD as a teacher!!! RMCAD has given me all of the tools necessary to achieve those goals, now all I need to do is work hard.

How would you describe the students who attend RMCAD?

The students that are attending RMCAD are like a big bowl of soup: each has their place in the pot, each one adds their zest, and each one produces a flavor all of their own. They are remarkably different from the students I interacted with at my previous institutions in that they have a voice, they are free to create, and no one judges them—just their work.

How has your life changed since enrolling at RMCAD?

A complete 180—last year at this time I was beginning to lose hope in an art career at all. I kept thinking I was wasting my money and needed to pursue something else. Now it is totally the opposite.

Was there a moment when RMCAD changed from "a school" to "my school"?

A few years ago, I came to RMCAD looking for hope and a sense of escape from my current predicament, and I met the transfer student coordinator Karen Wills while on a tour. She set me aside and personally reviewed my portfolio, my grades, and gave me names of the faculty here on campus. I was very surprised that someone would take so much time to just speak to one individual thinking of attending. Then not more than a week later, David Mesplé contacted me personally and spoke with me on the the phone and reviewed my portfolio as well. Here I was, astonished that the head of the Fine Arts department would call me personally and further speak to me—without knowing my intentions of attending the school—about the strengths of my portfolio. RMCAD became my school before I even stepped foot on the campus.

What would you want a prospective student to know about RMCAD?

No matter what the cost, the journey, the experience, when you start here at RMCAD your life begins. You will make friends with professors and students, you will be heard and your name will be mentioned, you will wave to people in your classes and see them every day. Your life will change because you have chosen to step foot in this community of learning and joy. It simply would be foolish not to attend!