I'm applying to School of Visual arts as soon as this essay is finalized for their Undergrad Illustration program. The assignment was: Statement of Intent: In 500 words or less discuss your reasons for pursuing undergraduate study in the visual arts. Feel free to include any information about yourself, your goals and interests that may not be immediately apparent from the review of your transcripts or portfolio.
This is my response:
One day I was riding my bike in this rural town. I just kept on riding, faster and faster and the sun never set and my legs never got tired, and the world was a blur of colors all around me. I could feel the rays from the sun trying to break through the wind and lay on my face, but I was moving too fast. As I was riding there were the buzzes of insects whizzing in my ears and out as fast as they came. Then I just started to fly away from myself. My skin flew off in ribbons and it was okay. My clothes deteriorated into pieces and my bicycle fell apart but it was all okay. I was a part of nature, a part of the sky and the trees, then I floated up through the air into the stars, and then I found myself opening my eyes. It was Thursday morning, I was 12, and I was sold for life; there was no way I could do anything but be a visual artist.
The reason, is that dream was one of the most intense dreams I had ever experienced, and at 12 I tried so hard to grasp on to the fleeting feelings from that dream, I tried to create a work of art that depicted and described it exactly, but my skills were infantile at best and needed work. Besides that dream, I started to get the impulse to just create a visual representation of every experience in my life that brought me intense emotion, trying so hard to share it with people and make them feel it too. So, I worked and I worked and I took every art class my school district had to offer, and finally I feel that, even though I'm still young, I can get more of my message across today than ever before.
Art has always been so intimate for me, and I've always been so attracted to all kinds of it, with all of the underlying stories and meanings, helping to create something so beautiful. For me, If I couldn't be a visual artist, I would never feel satisfied with my life. There's so many visual stories that I need to tell, so many people I want to reach and personally interact with. I have the choice now at this point in my life to make the decision to pursue this career, and School of Visual arts is like the puzzle piece that's been missing from my life. When I went to go visit the school, not only did I feel so accepted and welcomed by everyone I met, but my Mom said to me, "Mary, you're at home here."
If I were to have the opportunity to study at the School of Visual Arts, my only intentions would be to learn and grow as an artist, and use my education and experiences to become a part of the amazing art world that exists in New York City. I would be telling my visual and personal stories until I'm old and gray, and most of all, ensuring that I'm happy and satisfied with my life, while hopefully inspiring others to do so as well.
