by: Erin Morrison
Originally, it was planned that studio art classes, along with lab classes, would be held on campus while the majority of other classes would shift online. However, as the doctors and scientists began to learn more about the coronavirus pandemic and urged people to stay home, it was decided that all classes needed to be held online, including studio arts.
Teachers were given an extra week to switch to an online class format. Denise Seif, who teaches metalwork and jewelry studio art classes and art history at Parkland, told the Prospectus, “It has been both easy and hard… I have already been teaching online. Much of the Cobra system I know, but some of the video systems and Zoom are new to me so I had to, and still am, figuring these things out.” While online classes did not typically use the video calling application of Zoom prior to the outbreak, many in-person classes have started to use since it helps keep a routine.
“The tech services folks and people like Amy Penne, Lori Wendt, and Julie Weishar to name just a very few have been amazing at helping with this transition. Everyone at Parkland, in general, has just jumped in to help each other out which has been great,” Seif said.
“All our projects were moved to an online format, so they’ll all be done using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.”
The adjustment to online classes has been a complex experience for studio art students, too. Hannah Fredrick, an art and design major at Parkland, told the Prospectus, “I like working from home, but my mind feels like it’s still on vacation even though I have assignments to do.”
Fredrick is taking two studio art classes this semester: 2D design and Drawing II. She said she was able to go back to campus to pick up her supplies that include drawing pads, tracing paper, and projects from earlier in the year. She is now adjusting to doing these classes at home.
“All our projects were moved to an online format, so they’ll all be done using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Students were able to download these programs for free through Parkland, which was really helpful. Before moving online, most of our projects were done in-class using the computer and in-class materials,” Fredrick said. She also said she is using Cobra and live class sessions.
Matthew Christman and Itorobong Asanga, both theatre majors at Parkland, are taking Acting II this semester. The class is now done over Zoom. “It is more challenging to an extent because I just feel like it is weird acting on Zoom. I prefer in-person interactions and a physical audience,” Asanga said.
Another big change is that the Acting II students cannot finish the work they started earlier in the semester. “We had scenes and scene partners assigned that we can’t do anymore. So now, instead of performing a scene with a partner, we have to learn two monologues from plays of our choosing,” Christman said.
Chloe White is an art education major here at Parkland and is taking Ceramics I this semester. Ceramics is an especially difficult class to do from home. White did not have the chance to get her supplies from campus, which she says included, “personal tool kits, studio tools, different clays, glazes, kilns, and wheels, all which are impossible to supply to each person’s home.” As a result, she said, “We have shifted to a lot of assignments focusing on how we would design pieces and what makes them successful in art theory.
White called the situation unfortunate but optimistically told the Prospectus, “The situation at hand…is what is most important right now though, and staying home is saving lives. So, if that makes school a little harder, I’m okay with that.”
