Hey all, this is my graduation speech. Just dusting it off.
That first, strange, new year, we all learned how to mix colors and use a band saw. We even built chairs out of cardboard, though many of us weren’t quite sure why. We learned how to fend off sleep, sometimes for days on end, and we learned how to work so that sleep could happen almost every night. We have learned the delightful balance of marijuana and a near-perfect GPA. We have learned and overcome the frustrations of muslin, three- point perspective, CAD and Photoshop. We found friends that will last us the rest of our lives, in smoking courtyards and under cherry trees or splashing through the fountain in the dark hours of the morning.
And now, here we are four years later, creating paintings and gowns and photographs and fonts that our first year selves could not even imagine.
Coming into an art and design school, we obviously knew we’d be learning something, but the lessons we are taking We are taking away extend beyond the classroom and studio. so many lessons from these last four years. While we have learnedSome of these lessons were taught in classrooms, I have learned from so many people, and I would like to take a moment to recognize a few of them.
.
There are some lessons I was not expecting learn, teachers in unlikely places, and one piece of advice that ended up becoming
Janet Kaplan taught me the liberating and fundamental truth that “anything can be art.” I’m glad I never have to delve into one of those unending debates again.
Scot Kaylor taught me that everyone makes bad art; it’s not only okay, it’s necessary.
From two very different kinds of teachers, Frank Hyder and Rachel Luthy and Frank Hyder, I learned that nothing is worth not being your self.
From Jackie Maloney I learned that the creative process and love can be the same experience, anand that both artists and friendships can help save the world.
Brit Brennan, one of the great teachers in my life, taught me that caring is never ever a sign of weakness.
I learned from Jonathan Wallis that to start improving the world, we have to start with the part of the world that is around us, within arm’s reach: our friends, our family, our neighborhoods, the river and soil we depend on.
There are three people here today that have helped me constantly, who I will never be able to thank enough. Without question, they are the three hardest working people I know: My dad, tireless and unshakable, and my mom, endlessly giving and always growing. I have learned from their actions the meaning of true sacrifice and selflessness, although I doubt I have ever been an example of such altruism. And Harry, my partner in crime, strong in every sense of the word, is, is always teaching me presence and fearlessness.
I could talk at length about any of the contributions these friends and teachers have made on my life.There are so many things I’d like to say to all of you right now. We are all walking away with lessons we have taught each other, our own newly gained insight and I know . While hile I could talk about the importance of hard work, or the necessity of true friends, or even how, oh, I don’t know, how a Valedictorian can be a proud, upstanding potheadthere’s only one message I really want to leave with you today.
It’s something I learned from a professor who used to teach here, a man that many of us know and love, Dr. Art DiFuria. During that disorienting, tumultuous time known as sophomore year I was going through a particularly acute moment of personal crisis. I was in his office explaining to him why my latest rough draft was going to be late when he told me something I will never forget. He said, “Brianna, being a good person is more important, and harder, than being a good artist.”
Being a good person is more important, and harder, than being a good artist.
It’s an idea that’s easy to forget, especially when we’ve spent the last four years working so hard to develop our craft. , but if you remember anything from my time up here, please have it be this. It is in life as it is in the studio: being a good person requires practice and action, patience and self-forgiveness, keen senses and honesty.
My junior year, I spent some time in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where I volunteered labor to an art-based community project called Transformazium. I helped resalvage construction materials, and dig the foundation for a sustainable community space. This was the first time I saw artistic practices reflecting a resolute value system.
Lilly Yeh, who we are fortunate enough to have with us today, is further proof that this, to live as both a good person and artist, is possible. She has taken her talents and have used them to build a life that is compassionate, empowering, and socially aware.
Now, I’m not asking you to forget you goals and dreams and join the Peace Corp, and this isn’t about all becoming “Lilly Yehs.” All this is is a plea to move forward with conscience, to consider the numerous impacts our everyday artistic actions can have on the world. We are entering fields and industries that have the ability to be both beneficial and harmful to our society and planet.
I mean, I hope by this time you have all realized the huge impact artists and designers have on our world. The transformative power of art is apparent in every trend, cultural movement, and era. We make visible the thoughts, dreams, desires of our civilization. We make the spaces people live in, the clothes they wear, the books they read and the websites they visit. People unite under images; they find comfort and solidarity in images. As artists and designers all have a profound impact on the people, creatures, and world around us, and it takes hard work to make our impact a good one.
You can make sure the clothes you design aren’t assembled in sweatshops half-way around the world, you can make sure your studio practice has a little material waste as possible. Our valuable time and skills can be given to non-profits, like some of the amazing Graphic Design senior projects. And of course there are hundreds of things that can be done to reduce our damaging impact on the environment.
This is a strange time to be alive, and an especially strange time to be twenty-two and graduating. This is a time when most of the planet and its people , most of the world is sufferingsuffer for our comfort; where thousands die over the disagreements of a handfulfew. Now, more than ever, this “real world” everyone is telling us about, needs us more than ever, and I hope we’re all up for the job.
As we move on to the next stage of our lives, do not let yourselves become apathetic. Please, please, please. The world doesn’t need more apathy, and we are all too talented, too smart, too amazing to stop caring.
Don’t stop making art.
Don’t stop questioning the world around you; it’s the only way to discover how it could be better.
Have you guys seen the stuff in those galleries? Are you aware of what we have accomplished? We are innovative and empowered, and with the courage that is evident in this year’s senior show, we can do so much good.
In the true words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
I love you all, thank you.
That first, strange, new year, we all learned how to mix colors and use a band saw. We even built chairs out of cardboard, though many of us weren’t quite sure why. We learned how to fend off sleep, sometimes for days on end, and we learned how to work so that sleep could happen almost every night. We have learned the delightful balance of marijuana and a near-perfect GPA. We have learned and overcome the frustrations of muslin, three- point perspective, CAD and Photoshop. We found friends that will last us the rest of our lives, in smoking courtyards and under cherry trees or splashing through the fountain in the dark hours of the morning.
And now, here we are four years later, creating paintings and gowns and photographs and fonts that our first year selves could not even imagine.
Coming into an art and design school, we obviously knew we’d be learning something, but the lessons we are taking We are taking away extend beyond the classroom and studio. so many lessons from these last four years. While we have learnedSome of these lessons were taught in classrooms, I have learned from so many people, and I would like to take a moment to recognize a few of them.
.
There are some lessons I was not expecting learn, teachers in unlikely places, and one piece of advice that ended up becoming
Janet Kaplan taught me the liberating and fundamental truth that “anything can be art.” I’m glad I never have to delve into one of those unending debates again.
Scot Kaylor taught me that everyone makes bad art; it’s not only okay, it’s necessary.
From two very different kinds of teachers, Frank Hyder and Rachel Luthy and Frank Hyder, I learned that nothing is worth not being your self.
From Jackie Maloney I learned that the creative process and love can be the same experience, anand that both artists and friendships can help save the world.
Brit Brennan, one of the great teachers in my life, taught me that caring is never ever a sign of weakness.
I learned from Jonathan Wallis that to start improving the world, we have to start with the part of the world that is around us, within arm’s reach: our friends, our family, our neighborhoods, the river and soil we depend on.
There are three people here today that have helped me constantly, who I will never be able to thank enough. Without question, they are the three hardest working people I know: My dad, tireless and unshakable, and my mom, endlessly giving and always growing. I have learned from their actions the meaning of true sacrifice and selflessness, although I doubt I have ever been an example of such altruism. And Harry, my partner in crime, strong in every sense of the word, is, is always teaching me presence and fearlessness.
I could talk at length about any of the contributions these friends and teachers have made on my life.There are so many things I’d like to say to all of you right now. We are all walking away with lessons we have taught each other, our own newly gained insight and I know . While hile I could talk about the importance of hard work, or the necessity of true friends, or even how, oh, I don’t know, how a Valedictorian can be a proud, upstanding potheadthere’s only one message I really want to leave with you today.
It’s something I learned from a professor who used to teach here, a man that many of us know and love, Dr. Art DiFuria. During that disorienting, tumultuous time known as sophomore year I was going through a particularly acute moment of personal crisis. I was in his office explaining to him why my latest rough draft was going to be late when he told me something I will never forget. He said, “Brianna, being a good person is more important, and harder, than being a good artist.”
Being a good person is more important, and harder, than being a good artist.
It’s an idea that’s easy to forget, especially when we’ve spent the last four years working so hard to develop our craft. , but if you remember anything from my time up here, please have it be this. It is in life as it is in the studio: being a good person requires practice and action, patience and self-forgiveness, keen senses and honesty.
My junior year, I spent some time in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where I volunteered labor to an art-based community project called Transformazium. I helped resalvage construction materials, and dig the foundation for a sustainable community space. This was the first time I saw artistic practices reflecting a resolute value system.
Lilly Yeh, who we are fortunate enough to have with us today, is further proof that this, to live as both a good person and artist, is possible. She has taken her talents and have used them to build a life that is compassionate, empowering, and socially aware.
Now, I’m not asking you to forget you goals and dreams and join the Peace Corp, and this isn’t about all becoming “Lilly Yehs.” All this is is a plea to move forward with conscience, to consider the numerous impacts our everyday artistic actions can have on the world. We are entering fields and industries that have the ability to be both beneficial and harmful to our society and planet.
I mean, I hope by this time you have all realized the huge impact artists and designers have on our world. The transformative power of art is apparent in every trend, cultural movement, and era. We make visible the thoughts, dreams, desires of our civilization. We make the spaces people live in, the clothes they wear, the books they read and the websites they visit. People unite under images; they find comfort and solidarity in images. As artists and designers all have a profound impact on the people, creatures, and world around us, and it takes hard work to make our impact a good one.
You can make sure the clothes you design aren’t assembled in sweatshops half-way around the world, you can make sure your studio practice has a little material waste as possible. Our valuable time and skills can be given to non-profits, like some of the amazing Graphic Design senior projects. And of course there are hundreds of things that can be done to reduce our damaging impact on the environment.
This is a strange time to be alive, and an especially strange time to be twenty-two and graduating. This is a time when most of the planet and its people , most of the world is sufferingsuffer for our comfort; where thousands die over the disagreements of a handfulfew. Now, more than ever, this “real world” everyone is telling us about, needs us more than ever, and I hope we’re all up for the job.
As we move on to the next stage of our lives, do not let yourselves become apathetic. Please, please, please. The world doesn’t need more apathy, and we are all too talented, too smart, too amazing to stop caring.
Don’t stop making art.
Don’t stop questioning the world around you; it’s the only way to discover how it could be better.
Have you guys seen the stuff in those galleries? Are you aware of what we have accomplished? We are innovative and empowered, and with the courage that is evident in this year’s senior show, we can do so much good.
In the true words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
I love you all, thank you.
