CINEMA MAJOR, STUDENT ADVOCATE FINDS HOPE, CLARITY IN THE ART STUDIO

By Christopher LaFuria

When Analisa Johnson takes her seat at the pottery wheel, a lengthy checklist of ideas spins through her head as she begins throwing clay.

“If I mold the base of this mug more narrowly, will it still support the mouth and the walls? Did I stir the glaze enough before I kiln-fired the mugs?

“Have I painted this design before? Is this handle strong enough to match my design and contain some fresh-brewed coffee without breaking?”

Right before the start of her senior year at Edinboro University, Johnson was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition that has affected her study habits and test-taking. A cinema major with a concentration in film and video and a minor in ceramics, she hasn’t let the diagnosis slow her down.

Despite the waves of information and questions that penetrate her brain at any given moment, Johnson finds clarity in the ceramics studio.

“If it hadn’t been for the art program, I couldn’t have survived in a college setting,” said Johnson, a senior from Milton, Pa. “This has been a pretty good way to get my brain to function the way I need it to.”

Begriming her outfit with brown clay and digging her fingers into a future mug or ceramic bowl, Johnson clears her mind of the stress of college life and the jagged road that led to her final year at Edinboro.

Johnson arrived at Edinboro having no experience in the art studio. As a high school band and chorus student, art courses always seemed to conflict with her schedule.

But at Edinboro, she was determined not to miss her opportunity. In addition to making student films and designing ceramics, Johnson has been an active peer educator in the Ghering Health Center and is joining Edinboro’s Clay Club this semester.

As a self-identifying queer student, Johnson has also volunteered her time as an executive member of Identity, Edinboro’s LGBTQIA inclusive club.

At Milton Area High School, she caught the video bug after creating commercial videos and contests for women’s mental health organizations and developing her video journalism skills. On weekends, she filmed and photographed weddings and edited the content. That’s why Johnson decided to major in film – to become a video editor.

Her inspiration? Marcia Lucas.

The wife of George Lucas, creator of the “Star Wars” franchise, she earned the 1977 Academy Award for Best Film Editor.

“If she hadn’t done all the edits that she did, no one would remember ‘Star Wars,’” Johnson said, “because the original draft was insane and made no sense whatsoever.”

During her career as a student-filmmaker, Johnson has earned her own accolades. Her first feature film – “Colors of the Rainbow,” a minidocumentary of interviews with LGBTQIA students of color on campus – earned an entry in the David Weinkauf Student Film Festival.

“At the time, I was the only minority person in my film class. It felt like – at times – that I was alone,” said Johnson, whose father is African American and mother Dominican. “People don’t usually talk about these issues. So this gave me the prompt I needed for the documentary.”

Edinboro students and officials have taken notice of Johnson’s work with diversity, gender and sexual-orientation activism. Terrence Mitchell, chief officer of Diversity and Inclusion, views these efforts as essential to the University’s mission to provide an inclusive culture.

“We are so proud of all of our student’s efforts to grow and learn through experiences with peers, professors and employees who represent the diversity of our campus community,” he said. “Students – like Analisa – who have these experiences are more prepared for life after college and are the leaders of tomorrow.”

As a filmmaker and ceramicist, Johnson knows she has stories to tell about her experiences. Whether it’s living with a chronic hyperactivity condition or navigating life as a black queer college student, she is ready to share these stories.

“I only know my experience,” she said. “I can only tell people what life is like through my eyes.”