The School of Art at Lincoln University is currently holding a range of lectures throughout this academic year in celebration of their 150th year anniversary. The first lecture, 'Re-imagining Art Schools for the 21st Century,' looked at the progression of art schools from the Victorian age. During this time, artists were seen as skilled workers rather than today's creative thinkers. Although more often than not, we are creative dreamers! #LUFineart13 From looking at the history of art schools, the talk moved onto 'Where are we now? Where are we going?,' an important question considering the rise of tuition fees. Regrettably, this has added pressure to university funding, research and let's not forget, the students themselves.
During my undergrad, I struggled enough with the pressures of academia and the usual money issues, especially when affording art materials. These restrictions would often negatively impact my creative practice but I suppose that's the reality of the arts. This can definitely be an issue if you're a risk taker, which can often lead to more failures than successes. I particularly liked that this was noted in the lecture. After all, failure is just as important as success in learning and progression.
Maybe we should follow Thomas Edison's way of thinking on how he didn't fail but found 10,000 ways of not to make a light bulb. I guess the real challenge is to convince myself that failure is not the end, but a test of our determination and persistence, something that is essential when surviving as a recent graduate. Attending this lecture made me realise how much I miss academia already. It was great to be re-immersed in that intellectual environment again and I look forward to returning to it soon as a student and maybe one day, as a staff member.
See link: http://lincolnschoolofartanddesign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lsa-in-session.html