STUDENT CENTER SPOTLIGHT
The path from student to art practitioner is paved with uncertainty. It is no surprise that seeking a degree in the arts may often feel like a precarious choice, especially once the degree is in hand and the bills need to be paid. With this in mind, I believe it is critically important to convey the transition from student to working artist with honesty and transparency. The delicate balancing act between working-for-pay and
carving out studio time must be carefully communicated to students. While there is no direct route for those who choose a career in the arts it is apparent that in order to sustain and maintain our love for making we must be able and willing to adapt to our surroundings. In anticipation of the GAS Conference and the first ever Student Panel: POST GRADUATE PREPAREDNESS, I asked three individuals to offer some insight regarding their current status as emerging artists in the field. To ac-
company these particular narratives, 31 individuals from North America and Europe responded to a survey regarding professional practice pedagogy in glass academia. It may be a radical idea but I firmly believe students should not only receive professional mentorship through their academic program, but that they should play a key role in developing the curriculum and pedagogy of said classes. I hope that by giving students a platform via GASnews, those of us who identify as educators will consider how we hold space for the minds we are molding.
Pat Langley (they/them)
Abegael Uffelman (she/her)
Louis Grant (he/him)
GASnews: Can you speak on the postgraduation uncertainty of the “real world” and what it was like to adapt a personal studio practice after receiving intense instruction and oversight from the university/college setting? Pat Langley: Maintaining a studio practice in the “real world” is based mostly on determination. You have to want it. You have to be willing to fight, flex, and rework ideas and spaces to fit your momentary and long-term
needs. Navigating funds, space, and accessibility to equipment can feel like being a sheep trapped in a maze made by wolves. My biggest challenge when starting the adoption of my studio practice post undergrad was figuring out how to motivate myself. Once I got past that, funding was the next biggest challenge.
semeter before graduation. One of the hardest parts for me was deciding what I wanted to do upon graduating. For the first time, there wasn’t a clear cut path. There was freedom and I had to really sit down and figure out what direction I wanted to go in. I knew I wanted to continue learning and making work, while gaining experience in a studio, so I applied to and was accepted into Chrysler Glass Studio’s assistantship program. At the time, this was an unpaid assistantship, so I had to get another job.
Post Graduate Preparedness by Paige Morris
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Abegael Uffelman: The post-grad uncertainty can definitely be daunting, especially when approaching the final
GASNEWS
SUMMER 2021
VOLUME 35, ISSUE 1
