| What is the Impact of Ryman Arts? |
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By Chrsitina Joseph |
2009 Featured Alumni Artists: Internship Experiences
Zoe Axelrod and Christina Joseph
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Team Intern working on the Student Exhibition
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Ryman Arts is more than just an art class. It is a valuable community of young artists and mentors, which offers a rare opportunity for high school students. As Ryman Alumni, Zoe and I spent this summer as interns at Ryman Arts and learned of the multitude of tasks involved in running a nonprofit organization. Both Zoe and I graduated from Ryman and went on to continue our arts education at the Maryland Institute College of Art. For a majority of the summer, Zoe worked in the Ryman office as the Alumni Projects Intern, handling incoming applications and alumni events. I worked as the Digital Media Intern; I was responsible for updating and refining the website as well as forwarding communications to other alumni and interested people. As my internship comes to an end and I look forward to returning to school, I realize what a valuable work and learning experience this internship has been. I have learned so much from my time here and the experience has reinforced the long lasting dedication that Ryman Arts has for me as well as all other Ryman Alumni. Our stories are only two of the hundreds of Ryman Alumni but what we have learned and accomplished has reaffirmed our support for the Ryman Arts organization and their commitment to future and current students.
Interview with Zoe Axelrod
How did you get into art?
“Before I could write words, I drew pictures in a constant attempt to make sense of the world. My parents set up a huge art table in our kitchen and I would sit there for hours and hours, drawing detailed pictures and dictating captions that my parents would write on the back of the page, i.e. ‘This girl is running away from a cactus but she lost her shoe but she can’t stop running so the maid is getting the shoe for her.’”
What did the Ryman Arts Experience mean to you?
“Ryman Arts was truly the gift of a lifetime. Being surrounded by passionate, creative teens I could truly relate to, and experiencing arts education in a college environment really gave me the confidence to attend an arts college and to pursue a career in art. One Saturday morning, walking onto the USC campus, I realized that the warm, happy, expectant feeling I got every time I walked into Ryman was the feeling I could get walking into work as an artist every day for the rest of my life. Every week, Ryman reinforced my idea that art was what I wanted to do forever.”
Do you think that Ryman experience has helped
your future as an artist? As a person?
"When I was entering high school, I chose to attend the Highly Gifted Magnet at North Hollywood High School, where I would have few arts opportunities, over the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where I would make art for half the school day, because I knew that as long as I had drive and a creative passion, I would be able to pursue a future in arts on my own. Attending Ryman Arts, I learned the very necessary time management skills that it would take to complete great amounts of academic work and still make plenty of time for my art. Now, whatever obligations may eat up my time for the rest of my life, I will always know how to make time for art."
How does it feel being behind the scenes working at Ryman Arts now that you’ve graduated?
“Working as the Alumni Projects Intern at Ryman after having gone through the program has made me realize, even more than before, how much time, effort and genuine love goes into making the program a success. I’ve also come to understand how powerful a network of alumni can be. Every alumnus I talk to shares such fond memories of Ryman and wants to give back to the program in any way they can. Ryman Arts doesn’t just create a community of artists for the duration of the program; it creates
a network of professional artists
that lasts a lifetime.”
What skills did you learn at Ryman Arts that are perhaps resurfacing now in your college career?
"Ryman taught me many skills and techniques that I constantly find myself drawing upon as my work evolves and changes. Ryman was the first place I really learned how to use two point and three point perspective, how to form a strong composition, how to create depth, mass, and texture using light and shadow. As my work becomes more abstract, these ideas still greatly inform my art. As the saying goes, you have to know the rules before you can break them!"
What advice would you give future and current artists at Ryman Arts? What do you think that they should
take away from their Ryman Arts experience?
"One piece of advice would be to take advantage of all that Ryman Arts has to offer. Besides working hard in class every week and at home, go to Ryman’s college fairs, career days, and field trips. Volunteer at events. If you get involved in your artistic community, opportunities will continue to present themselves."
What do you see your future in the arts being?
"I am currently attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, majoring in Environmental Design and minoring in Culture and Politics. I hope to improve people’s everyday lives by making art that is functional, that changes and makes easier the daily tasks we perform and the routines we follow. I want to make products that are practical, inexpensive, easy to use, and sustainable."
My Ryman Arts Experience
by Christina Joseph
2008 Ryman Alumus
Looking back now, Ryman was one of the best experiences of my high school career. For one day a week I had the opportunity to just draw and leave the stress and worries of the school week behind. The ability to sit down and draw was a pure delight and I loved every minute of it. After graduating from Ryman and high school last year, I went on to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art where I am studying sculpture with a concentration in curatorial studies. As I move forward with my education, I understand more than ever how valuable Ryman Arts was in helping me understand the foundations of art that are so necessary in my college career.
Working as the digital media intern at Ryman Arts this summer has been an absolute pleasure. When I heard about this internship at Ryman, sponsored by the Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program I knew that it would be a beneficial and more importantly memorable experience.
Over the course of this summer, I have learned so much about the history of Ryman Arts and its humble beginnings of a single class of twelve. Ryman Arts is now preparing for their twenty year anniversary. What started with a single class of twelve now provides top notch art classes for over 150 students from almost 100 zip codes each year. I know the Ryman Arts staff genuinely care about their students and I have seen firsthand how much time and effort they put into keeping Ryman Arts alive and thriving. I am grateful to have had a chance to be a part of this influential organization both as a student and an intern. But most of all I feel fortunate to have the support of Ryman Arts even now in my college years.
As I look back on my time this summer as well as my time as a Ryman Arts student, the advice that I would give to future Ryman students, would be to understand what an remarkable experience Ryman Arts is and to take advantage of every opportunity that it gives you. There are a lot of them!
2008 Featured Alumni Artists:
Adrianna Arambula, Lindsay Lopez and Zaira Hernandez
2006 Featured Alumni Artists:
Michelle Wiener and Oscar Magallanes
