sarahfcpsarts

[sarahfcpsarts]

I watched a recording of the Stefanovic Family’s live stream performance on the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s website. My favorite piece performed by the Stefanovic family was by Sebastian and Luka. They performed Beethoven’s Eyeglasses duet for the viola and cello. This piece was described by the brothers to have a quirky and funny tone and I completely agree. It was very fun to listen to and see how the brothers expressed their love for the piece in their body language throughout the performance. This live stream is a great example of how society has used technology to connect people directly with the arts, despite self isolation.  

[sarahfcpsarts]

Love Alarm is a Korean drama that came out on Netflix in 2019. It takes place in a modern day South Korea but there is an app available called “Love Alarm” that tells you if there is someone who likes you within a 10 meter radius of you. The story followers high schooler Kim Jojo, and her experiences with this app as well as her struggles at home. 

My favorite part about this show is not only the story, but the graphics, sound track, color scheme, and scenery that make everything come to life. The graphics in this show help emphasize the emotionality and excitement of finding someone who rings your love alarm. For example, a colorful 10 meter ring surrounds characters who have the app open and the ring lights up when someone who likes you walks in it. The soundtrack is also so beautiful and was written/compiled specifically for the show. Each song is recognizable because they play at very specific moments. There is a unique song for when something exciting or sad happens, when characters are reflecting or to show how in love the characters are. The soundtrack also complements the scenery so well. The colors of almost every scene are bright and saturated and contribute to the effectiveness of the story. 

This show is definitely one of my favorites and I am looking forward to the next season!

[sarahfcpsarts]

Being stuck inside all day has given me a lot of time/creative freedom!! It is cool to see the kind of stuff I draw when I am not under the pressure of deadlines. I have been doing a lot of brain dump sketches that I could make into larger projects later! One of my favorite things to do is paint butterflies/anything related to nature. I have noticed that a lot of my art is inspired by trees, fish, and bodies of water recently. My friend and I were thinking of challenging ourselves to draw a butterfly a day and see the collection we can come up with in a few months. 

[sarahfcpsarts]

Today, I went to the Coffee and Crafts origami making workshop! I made a couple paper cranes using the patterned/textured paper. It reminded me of the time me and a coworker had to teach a ton of little kids how to make paper cranes for a summer camp event. This workshop was a much more relaxing experience. It is really cool that you can make balloons, birds, turtles, flowers and more just by folding a small square of paper. 

[sarahfcpsarts]

This morning, I visited Stamp Galley’s exhibition of  “Nuero Blooms” by Leslie Holt. Leslie created a series of brain stains of people who were experiencing mental health conditions; using acrylic and embroidery on canvas to depict them. Through her work, Leslie wanted to depict a “metaphor for the integration of scientific data” with a “subjective expereince.” The presentation of this exhibition of stamp was very interesting to me because it is geared toward helping people understand the brain and mental illness while promoting self care. The colors of Leslie’s pieces were extremely bright and colorful making them pop from far away.

[sarahfcpsarts]

Over winter break, I went to a Seventeen (k-pop performance group) concert in Newark, New Jersey with my older sister. My sister recently purchased a live stream/video of the full concert and I watched it with her this past weekend. After sitting down and watching the concert in a more relaxed setting, I was able to notice more of the hard work that was put into the details, design, and performance during the concert. The dedication and passion put into this concert could be seen through the graphics, costume design, lighting changes and the members stage presence. So much art went into developing the concert alongside the choreography, dancing, and singing.

[sarahfcpsarts]

This past Sunday, I attended The Gamer Symphony Orchestra’s Fall 2019 concert. This was my first time attending a GSO performance and I am extremely happy that I had the opportunity to go. Each of the songs performed blended the instruments and choir beautifully. The hard work and passion of every single student could be seen throughout each performance. My favorite performance was GSO’s rendition of “Gusty Garden Galaxy” from Super Mario Galaxy. The performance made me nostalgic of my childhood and playing Super Mario with my family. 

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In October, the Arts Advisory Board hosted an Artober Spookhouse where students were able to perform. The performances ranged from singing, piano, guitar, and violin playing, to literature presentation. My favorite performance of the night was Joshua Qiu’s classical violin piece. I have not seen many violin performances by students and I really enjoyed being able to see different art forms of students inside and outside of the Arts Scholars program. This is a photo of the Mario Kart contestant in the costume contest held at the event!

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In September, the Arts Advisory Board had their first Arthouse! At this event, Arts Advisory Board members taught students how to make keychains/lanyards out of various materials including embroidery floss, beads, rex lace, and paracord. I helped teach some friends how to weave chevron and candy stripe patterns using embroidery floss!

[sarahfcpsarts]

“The Same Sky Overarches Us All” is an art exhibition by Lia Halloran that is currently being showcased at the University of Maryland Art Sociology Galley. In her exhibition, Halloran explores the roles that early women astronomers have played in modern astronomy. Halloran used cyanotypes to examine how “perception, time, and scale inform the human desire to understand the world and our emotional and psychological place within it.”

I found this exhibition very intriguing. The pieces were created using a printing process that resulted in a beautiful blue. The eerie/interstellar sounding music in the background was chilling, especially when viewing the cyanotypes of womens’ silhouettes.

[sarahfcpsarts]

This weekend, I went to the Renaissance Festival with my sister and friends! We explored everything the festival had to offer, including knife throwing, lots of food, rock climbing, maze navigating, shopping, and live performances! One of the live performances we watched was a comedy adaptation of Cleopatra. This show had 4 cast members, each playing two to three different roles throughout the performance. Each member showed their joy and appreciation for their performance through the flow of their jokes on stage, and their hilarious interactions with one another. After the show, an aerial silk acrobat performed on huge pink, purple, and white silks to transition into the next play: Romeo and Juliet.

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The Hishhorn Museum in Washington D.C is a hub for contemporary art and culture. The artwork presented in this museum ranges from paintings, to sculptures, music, and film. I loved that this museum had interactive exhibits. My favorite exhibit was Pulse Room created by Raphael Lozanno-Hemmer. This exhibit took data from visitors through sensors. The heart beat of each participating visitor would be stored in the touch sensors and reflected in the many lightbulbs that were strung across the ceiling. The lightbulbs in the ceiling would turn on and off in order to reflect all of the new heartbeats being recorded. This exhibit reflects the idea that everyone depends on a heart beat, but no one has control over it.

[sarahfcpsarts]

Through Studio A at UMD, I take a weekly beginners pottery wheel class. In this class, I have learned how to create plates, pots, bowls, and cups on the pottery wheel. After our creations are fried in the oven, they will be glazed and ready to display for decoration! I look forward to learning how to make a tea pot and decorate my ceramics. 

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On March 8th, I participated in a student led Q&A for students admitted to the Arts Scholars program for the Fall 2019 semester! I was able to answer any questions that students had about the program like the classes we have to take, what colloquiums are like, and what opportunities are available to students. Hopefully, I was able to convince some students to register with the Arts Scholars program :)

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The Arts Advisory Board hosted a coffeehouse where students could play board games, cards, or video games on a Nintendo Switch! I enjoyed playing heads up/charades with friends and battling with others through Mario Cart! 

This coffeehouse raised money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention! All donations made at the event will go towards funding research and outreach for mental health and wellness. The coffeehouse was inspired by the board game “Life” in that all donations would go towards saving lives!

[sarahfcpsarts]

The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. is an art museum that focuses on contemporary art. One of the main exhibits of the museum is Belief + Doubt by Barbara Kruger. This installation “introduces doubt” through many of its phrases including “Who is free to choose?” This exhibit is successful in promoting its message because it is extremely eye-catching and easy to read. 

I enjoyed visiting the Hirshhorn Musem because it gave me a new perspective on what art is and how to analyze it. 

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I visited the National Portrait Gallery to study artwork for a research project for my drawing class. The goal of my project was to find a piece that I am interested in writing about. My favorite style of artwork represented in the gallery was Impressionism. I love how this style shows life at a moment, with lots of color and textures. My favorite piece was Dahlias, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers by Gustave Caillebotte. I can imagine the serentity and calmness of the setting that inspired Caillebotte.