A Weekend in the Life of Art Students
Seven art students and Professor of Art and Art History, Dr. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt, piled into an SUV on a Thursday and drove six hours to Cincinnati for the SECAC art conference. SECAC is a national non-profit supporting education and research in the visual arts. The conference is an opportunity for artists, professionals, educators, and scholars to interact on a professional level. Dr. Weichbrodt commented, "Compared to other professional conferences, SECAC offers a very collegial and supportive environment while maintaining academic rigor. I enjoy presenting new work there, and it is the perfect venue for undergraduates to interact with scholars from across the country." The event featured a keynote speaker and breakout sessions over a couple of days, several of which were undergraduate panels.
Three Covenant seniors, Grace Anderson 鈥�26, Anna Mages 鈥�26, and Hailey Myers 鈥�26, were selected to speak on undergraduate panels with 20-minute formal presentations.
The presentations from the three seniors had been in the works for some time, originally beginning as research papers written for different classes. With encouragement from professors, Grace, Anna, and Hailey submitted abstracts for their papers last year. These abstracts were then reviewed anonymously and selected for the conference. With the three seniors presenting, Covenant had the highest number of undergrads selected to present at the conference.
The students鈥� papers were titled:
- 鈥淧iracy and the Pandemic: Contemporary Art that Empowers Women of the Asian Diaspora鈥� by Anna Mages
- 鈥淐arrying Culture: The Preservation and Resilience of Dakhota History in the Beadwork of Neillie Two Bear Gates鈥� by Grace Anderson
- 鈥淓xploring Mary Weatherford鈥檚 Gloria鈥� by Hailey Myers
As well as the student鈥檚 papers, Professor Weichbrodt was selected to present a paper: "From Pelvic Models to Pelvic Vessels: Janine Antoni and the Mutual Transformation of Birth".
On Friday morning, the students attended breakout sessions and enjoyed lunch with a special guest, Emily Schollenberger 鈥�17. One of Dr. Weichbrodt鈥檚 first art history students, Emily is in the process of completing her dissertation at Temple University and was also presenting. On Saturday morning, all the students and Professor Weichbrodt presented on their panels. After a packed couple of days, they drove home that afternoon.
The conference provided students, educators, and professionals a unique interaction with the art community. Grace reflects on the weekend鈥檚 impact on her, 鈥淚t was a really cool experience to see the huge variety of topics people were researching, as well as the different artists鈥� practices. It was also encouraging to hear presentations from graduate students, to see the caliber of their work and what their research looks like.鈥� Anna Mages also spoke to the value of seeing other people鈥檚 research in the works, saying:
鈥淎ttending SECAC this fall was eye-opening to the kind of research being done in professional, graduate, and undergraduate fields. This was my second time attending the conference and it was particularly encouraging this year to learn about others鈥� scholarship and practice as I consider next steps after graduation. To make it all the more an enriching experience, presenting my paper was reassuring of the type of work I am interested in.鈥�
Check out Grace鈥檚 weekend in the life on our YouTube!