Try not to freak out, but . . . I just gave my final presentation! Not "final" as in the project's over; just a progress report of sorts to show what I've accomplished this semester. At first I didn't realize how much I have actually done, but when I put it all in a slide show I thought "Wow! That looks like I busted my butt!"
The presentations for Leadership Academy theses are open invitation, but usually the audience is just the student's supervisor (in my case Dr. Robert Carr III), the student's secondary reader (Gregory Barry), and the head of the academy (Dr. Sarah Levine). My parents also came, which was a nice surprize. I talked for 20 minutes about the idea for the project, my search for a location, this blog assignment (that I've faithfully continued), my grant application and funding, gallery visits/observations, my guest list, music choices, and paniced quest for a title. I also passed around the current state of my postcard invitations, business card samples and gallery card designs, and laid my plans for next semester. Overall I think it went really well! Clearly I have lots to keep me busy over vacation.
OH MY GOSH VACATION! What am I doing writing a blog post in the early morning hours of my winter vacation?! There is no need for this. I'm going to bed. SEE YA IN THE SPRING (semester)!
PS. I wish you and your families a very merry CHRISTMAS!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
And the Winner Is . . .
Happy Almost Christmas! The end of the year means the end of another semester, and a presentation to show what I've accomplished on my project. Thank you all for voting on your favorite titles these past two weeks. I have come to a decision, but first I want to explain the reasoning behind it. Here are how the votes played out:
6 --Immortalized Moments: A collection of picturesque sights of experiences
12--Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights
4 --Engage
Immortalized Moments: A collection of picturesque sights and experiences
This was one of the first titles that I came up with when I began brainstorming several months ago. I started with a long list of key words which I then combined in different ways to make titles. This particular title was towards the top of the list for weeks, but I just wasn't thrilled with it. Even though it sounded beautiful, it was too long to be practical (21 syllables!). I also liked the idea of having a title and a subtitle, but the first phrase sounded a little sappy to me and the second one felt generic (like "How to Title your Art Show for Dummies").
Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights
This was my favorite title for several reasons. I liked the phrase "ordinary sights" because it accurately conveyed how my work appreciates ordinary subject matter like flowers and landscapes. I also liked the word "encounters" and thought it flowed well with "extraordinary." I did not, however, like the word "extraordinary" because my encounters were anything but. Each piece is noteworthy because my audience and I have an extraordinary appreciation for it, not that it was extraordinary to begin with. I wanted a word to convey my appreciation for each sight, so I wasn't completely satisfied with this title.
Engage
This title walked into my brain and introduced itself as I was writing my blog post. It was the word I had been grasping at for weeks without success, and I immediately added it as a third candidate. Unfortunately, it's briefness meant that it was also vague. I'm glad to see that it got a few votes though!
And so, at the last minute and with the help of several opinions, I chose to combine my two favorite titles (not necessarily the ones with the most votes) into one, better title which is:
*********************************
Engaging Moments with Ordinary Sights
A collection of work by Julie Barrows
*********************************
March 3-31, 2012
Townsend Meeting Hall
Corridor Gallery
12 Dudley Rd, Townsend, MA
(directions and hours are available at www.TownsendLibrary.org)
6 --Immortalized Moments: A collection of picturesque sights of experiences
12--Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights
4 --Engage
Immortalized Moments: A collection of picturesque sights and experiences
This was one of the first titles that I came up with when I began brainstorming several months ago. I started with a long list of key words which I then combined in different ways to make titles. This particular title was towards the top of the list for weeks, but I just wasn't thrilled with it. Even though it sounded beautiful, it was too long to be practical (21 syllables!). I also liked the idea of having a title and a subtitle, but the first phrase sounded a little sappy to me and the second one felt generic (like "How to Title your Art Show for Dummies").
Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights
This was my favorite title for several reasons. I liked the phrase "ordinary sights" because it accurately conveyed how my work appreciates ordinary subject matter like flowers and landscapes. I also liked the word "encounters" and thought it flowed well with "extraordinary." I did not, however, like the word "extraordinary" because my encounters were anything but. Each piece is noteworthy because my audience and I have an extraordinary appreciation for it, not that it was extraordinary to begin with. I wanted a word to convey my appreciation for each sight, so I wasn't completely satisfied with this title.
Engage
This title walked into my brain and introduced itself as I was writing my blog post. It was the word I had been grasping at for weeks without success, and I immediately added it as a third candidate. Unfortunately, it's briefness meant that it was also vague. I'm glad to see that it got a few votes though!
And so, at the last minute and with the help of several opinions, I chose to combine my two favorite titles (not necessarily the ones with the most votes) into one, better title which is:
*********************************
Engaging Moments with Ordinary Sights
A collection of work by Julie Barrows
*********************************
March 3-31, 2012
Townsend Meeting Hall
Corridor Gallery
12 Dudley Rd, Townsend, MA
(directions and hours are available at www.TownsendLibrary.org)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
In Which I Share Great News
First of all, you guys are AMAZING! In the past 48 hours my e-mail has been filled with votes for your favorite titles! Thank you all! Also in that time, my blog has had more views than it's ever seen before! To give you an idea, I have a chart at the top of the column to the right; see that big tall spike? The only one on the chart? Yeah, that's you guys. In the past two days my blog has had (I'm guessing) 5x the amount of views any post has ever gotten! I'm so thrilled (note the excessive use of exclamation marks)!
In other, also great, news, I received a wonderful letter today announcing that I will receive a grant from the Westminster Cultural Council! I applied for this grant as part of a class assignment (for Writing for Business and Technology (Hi Dr. Martyniuk!)) in which I had to find a grant that I qualified for, and write a mock application letter on behalf of a certain cause. I chose to write to the Westminster Cultural Council and asked for money to help frame my artwork for the show. It just so happened that the deadline for ACTUAL applications was the very week this project was assigned! After taking my completed letter to class on a Friday, I spent the next night completing the application and creating a budget (I didn't have one) so that I could drop the application off on Saturday morning at the last possible minute. What have I learned from this experience? That when writing a grant application, it pays to stay up until 5am on a Saturday morning. Literally.
A big "Thank You!" to the Westminster Cultural Council who took the time to read over my application and help fund my project!
In other, also great, news, I received a wonderful letter today announcing that I will receive a grant from the Westminster Cultural Council! I applied for this grant as part of a class assignment (for Writing for Business and Technology (Hi Dr. Martyniuk!)) in which I had to find a grant that I qualified for, and write a mock application letter on behalf of a certain cause. I chose to write to the Westminster Cultural Council and asked for money to help frame my artwork for the show. It just so happened that the deadline for ACTUAL applications was the very week this project was assigned! After taking my completed letter to class on a Friday, I spent the next night completing the application and creating a budget (I didn't have one) so that I could drop the application off on Saturday morning at the last possible minute. What have I learned from this experience? That when writing a grant application, it pays to stay up until 5am on a Saturday morning. Literally.
A big "Thank You!" to the Westminster Cultural Council who took the time to read over my application and help fund my project!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Happy December! (P.S. go vote)
Welcome back all you devoted readers and Happy December First! Only 3 months 'til the show opens! That's 91 days exactly. Or 2184 hours. Or 131040 minutes. Or . . . well, you get the point.
What I'm trying to say is that March 1st is fast approaching and I still haven't decided on a title! Eek! That's why I'm asking for your help. That's right: You. This means Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jo Ann, Mom & Dad, my friends, and all you faithful readers. In the spirit of giving, please give me feedback by voting for your favorite title! Or you can suggest a new title if you don't like my choices. I'll take your opinions into consideration before making the final announcement in roughly two weeks.
You can vote by sending an e-mail to my new account, juliebarrowsart@gmail.com (that's "julie barrows art" without spaces), set up for this very purpose. Simply write the title you want to vote for, and don't forget to sign your name!
2. "Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights"
3. "Engage"
The third option just popped into my head this minute and bumped another title out of the running, haha. And now there are 7 minutes left on December first, so I should hurry up and post this. I look forward to reading all of your votes!
What I'm trying to say is that March 1st is fast approaching and I still haven't decided on a title! Eek! That's why I'm asking for your help. That's right: You. This means Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jo Ann, Mom & Dad, my friends, and all you faithful readers. In the spirit of giving, please give me feedback by voting for your favorite title! Or you can suggest a new title if you don't like my choices. I'll take your opinions into consideration before making the final announcement in roughly two weeks.
You can vote by sending an e-mail to my new account, juliebarrowsart@gmail.com (that's "julie barrows art" without spaces), set up for this very purpose. Simply write the title you want to vote for, and don't forget to sign your name!
Have you ever glanced at the ocean, a mountain or a flower and thought ‘Wow, that’s beautiful.”? This show embraces those split-second experiences by capturing beautiful moments in my life. That being said, the possible titles are:
1. "Immortalized Moments: A collection of picturesque sights and experiences"2. "Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Sights"
3. "Engage"
The third option just popped into my head this minute and bumped another title out of the running, haha. And now there are 7 minutes left on December first, so I should hurry up and post this. I look forward to reading all of your votes!
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