Journal Update #9 - 10/24/19
As I acknowledged in a previous blog, I wanted to start a regular meeting schedule with Justin, whether it was in-person every Monday or through email. Today aligned with this goal as I had my regular check-in with Justin to show him my recent progress. This included my work on the annotated bibliography, assignment templates, and final-deliverable planning. He told me that he liked my annotated bibliography, but he wants to see one or two more additional sources specifically about mental health on college campuses; my included sources had just been about the general implications of mental health. In addition, he reviewed my two practicum assignment templates and gave me no direct suggestion, so I assumed that they were acceptable. Lastly, we talked about the bigger picture of my study--the art piece that I will be presenting in the library near the end of the semester. I mentioned that I planned to make several iterations relating to the content included on the art piece, but he gave me the new idea of brainstorming various alternatives to the format or assembly of the exhibit. Rather than depicting my message on three parallel, flat wooden boards, perhaps I could form them into a triangular pyramid. Instead of drilling the boards into the wall, I could consider suspending them with rope from the wall. Thoughts like this gave me much more to think about before I start the creation process of this final art piece. I determined that I must conclude by Wednesday how I want to arrange my design so that I can present it to the library technician.
This person was by the name of Sherry Muniz, and she was the preservation technician in charge of the exhibits, art, and decorations around the Arthur Lakes Library. I have commented that my original intentions were to use the student center as my building-medium, by the building manager has yet to reply to my proposal email, so I had to refer to plan B. It is important to note the importance of where my project will be displayed. I have included this in the rubric of my post-practicum deliverable where it is "publicly displayed for effective visual noticeably in an area that receives considerable foot-traffic." Furthermore, the stakeholders or targeted audience pertains to students, faculty, and professors, so I require a space that houses all three populations. I met with Sherry Muniz to get these needs sorted out, and she promptly diminished all of my hesitations by walking me to the open space where she wanted my art to be displayed:https://static.wixstatic.com/media/732a53_53e004e7eabc4e4fbfb59cbddb1e86a0~mv2_d_3024_3024_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_3024,h_3024/20191023_101653.jpg
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/732a53_b8b007a8bc4f420ab403730b995559df~mv2_d_3024_3024_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_3024,h_3024/20191023_101644.jpg
I was amazed by such an incredible opportunity as this was probably one of the areas in the library that received the most foot traffic. She referred to this wall as the Crème de la Crème due to its amazing potential as a display backing. Overall, she seemed fairly casual about the organization of the space, and we simply agreed that I would email her around November once I have the physical boards made. As for my format, she told me that I could have more time figuring out how I want to attach it to the wall, but I figured that I must make a 2-D exhibit so that it could appropriately fit onto the vertical surface.
After this good news, I felt another spark of motivation to work on more of the planning phase of the project. I now have a clear idea of my expectations for my deliverable, the first thing I need to do is go back to the drawing board and draft another iteration of my model--time to go on SketchUp.