What Students Really Say About Farmington


Tell me about the Art major here at Farmington.
A lot of it is 2-D art: drawing and painting, with some sculpture and photography elements. So far, I’ve taken mostly drawing and painting. We’re also expanding our work to include 2-D on the computer and we have a New Media art class. So we’ve got a lot more going on with the media avenue of art, which is a nice addition.

What’s your favorite Art area?
I love painting and drawing. I dabbled in sculpture but I prefer hands-on painting and drawing, oil painting and working in charcoals. I’m taking photography right now and I’m learning more of the technological aspect of black and white composition, which is good for any art major to have and because you’re working with technology. It’s the same thing when you’re using computers on 2-D art, using and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I think looking at photography is a good way to learn more about art as a 2-D surface.

Are you planning on going to Grad School?
Eventually. But because I’ve been working at the UMF Art Gallery for a year, I’m also looking into the Arts Administration program here, maybe adding an Arts Administration component to my Art major. I know I want to do something with writing and art, visually putting things together, maybe something in the realm of working as an art curator or working in a researched-based art setting.

Do you do any Art things outside of the classroom?
Actually, yes. I’m finishing up my internship at the hospital as an art intern.

An Art internship at a hospital? Interesting, what do you do there?
Well, there’s a growing call for art in hospitals, the idea of art as healing. OK, think about the color of a room. If you think of a dark blue room versus a pale blue room, which room would make you feel better? I’ve actually done research for some conference rooms and am also putting together historical displays for conference rooms named after Fly Rod Crosby, a really famous Maine fly fisherwoman who's from the Rangeley area.

I’ve also been working with Maine museums — getting copies of prints and putting together displays — trying to give some historical and education sense to conference rooms, but in a visual way. I’m doing work with visual displays but not like in a formal art gallery where they’d have certain rules and regulations. My Art internship is in a hospital setting, which is geared to something different. It’s neat and I’m learning a lot. Who knows, maybe there’s a calling out there for an art curator in a hospital.

Why go to college for Art when some people may say it's not necessary?
I think a lot of people self-teach. I self taught myself to an extent, but I wasn’t very good. I found myself getting much better with practice and instruction. Even though it gets difficult with so many sketches due by a certain date, it really makes you work at it. This is important because it gives you a schedule, it gives you something to work at, it gives you a reason to improve if you really want to. You can be a good artist coming into college, but you can always be better. And you can always learn. Take Art History, for example.

OK, tell me how Art History fits in.
In Art, everyone wants to learn and do something new, so you need to know the art history as well as just being able to draw. So in that respect, too, I think it’s important to go to college. It helps you to learn more about the craft, not just the product, but also everything else behind it.

Some people say, “I’m going to be an artist,” but then they go to college and learn they want to be an art curator or they want to do stage design. It’s all about exploring different avenues of art. Or you may already know that you draw very well but find out you’d rather teach art to children. College gives you exposure to different things — you’ll find out if you want to be a working artist or if you’d rather do something else in the art world, like working at a hospital creating visual displays. It’s still Art — it’s just a different way of channeling your creativity.

Have you taken any Art classes that have altered how you think your art might take you?
That’s a good question. I’ve learned what I like and what I don’t. I enjoy Art History because I think you learn about the history of specific art movements and what people have done. And in my 2-D Design class I learned I didn’t want to deal with Adobe Photoshop [laughs].

What do you feel is a strength of the Art Department at UMF?
I think the drawing the painting parts of the Art major here are really strong. And I like that Farmington is expanding the computer art aspect of art, too. The sculpture and the design classes give you more incentive to explore concepts and what you’re trying to portray. Here, you can really create, as some people have done in independent studies and the New Media class. I think Farmington is a good starting place for people. It gives you a solid basis. And we have professors who've been here a while and really know their stuff.

What brought you to Farmington?
Honestly ... money. It was more affordable and I’m paying my own way. Originally, I was planning on going to an exclusive private liberal arts college in Vermont, but they’re around $30,000 a year — for four years! Since UMF is also a small liberal arts school, it has been really good. I’ve been able to make those teacher-student relationships and I've made a ton of friends, so Farmington has been a good thing. But originally, I chose this school because of money issues.

Are you happy that you ended up here?
Yeah. I do plan to go to graduate school and I think this place has been a good experience and has ended up the best.

What does UMF do well?
I think they do a good job here at having events on campus every night — different things to keep people interested. Having activities has always been a strong suit. I know five out of seven nights there is something I can go to.

The class size is reasonable too. I have just 13 students in my senior seminar class for English. I’ve always been able to go to my professors for advice and feedback, they’ve always been very receptive. The faculty has always been good at Farmington.