'the one thing I did enjoy was drawing' - School of Visual Arts-Statement of Intent. My vision.

I was a child who kept to myself, was too shy to speak and spent a lot of time in solitude. Most people who encountered me paid me no mind. I didn't have many interests, but the one thing I did enjoy was drawing. I would spend a lot of my afternoons doodling, making paper dolls or drawing my dream home. In school, I remember art class to be the class I felt the happiest in. Seeing the process of a vision come to life, that was incredible to me.

Growing up, I wanted to be an artist. My family would always tell me that was silly to say, because art won't take me anywhere. As I got older, going into high school, I still had the desire to pursue art. I was constantly doubted. I was told to give up the idea of pursing art because art is just a past time, like watching television.

Although I disagreed, I didn't want to disappoint my parents, so I began to draw less, I painted less. I continued to college pursing something they wanted me to pursue.

At that time in my life, I felt like something was missing. I was always discontented. I decided that I cannot waste my time making others happy and that I needed to do things for me. This brings me to the present.

I want to be doing something that will make me feel. When I am drawing, I am feeling. The amazing thing about art is that I can visually represent my feelings onto paper for others to see. I will not be satisfied until I can reach out to people, grow as a person and explore opportunities.

I need to step out of what is known to me, what is comfortable to me and seek the unknown. I want to engulf myself into the art that New York City has to offer me. To be able to interact and experience with others that have the same dream of expression, that is what I am missing. This opportunity will be one to change my life because my intention right now is to become a part of something bigger than this little box that I am in. My intention is to put everything I have into the experiences that I would receive, making beautiful art in a surrounding that will push me forward and pursing my first and only vision of becoming a visual artist.

"Growing up, I wanted to be an artist. My family would always tell me that was silly to say, because art won't take me anywhere. As I got older, going into high school, I still had the desire to pursue art. I was constantly doubted. I was told to give up the idea of pursing art because art is just a pastime , like watching television."

I really like your statement, it's heartfelt and sweet. Pursuing is spelt wrong so I crossed it out in the statement above and pastime is one word. When you say "As I got older, going into high school," I recommend that you rephrase that part. Take out the "As I got older"

Good luck!
Iya

Hc, while you presented us with a touching story regarding your constant striving to become an artist, too much time has been spent discussing your parents and the way that they prevented you from achieving your dreams. What we would rather be hearing about is your vision, what is the intention that drives you to continue aspiring to become a visual artist? Why did you always want to become an artist? Let's not dwell on how your parents tried to prevent you from becoming one. Unless, their moves to stop you became the reason that you are trying to become an effective visual artist at the moment. All of the reasons that you stated, even the fact that you took a college course against your will, all should have added up to solidifying your intention to become a visual artist. I am not getting a sense of that in your essay. Instead, you sound more like you are merely complaining about your parents lack of support for your dreams and ambitions. That is not what we want to read about here. Talk to us about your artistic visions. Who inspired you? What is your motivation? What is your ultimate vision as an artist? Tell us about the artist in you, not about how you were prevented from pursuing your artistry.

Hc, your vision as an artist comes into play the minute to start talking about your grandfather and how you used drawing as a way to communicate with him. That is where your vision as an artist lies. In the fact that drawing and arts are a language that people understand, without the need for words. It transcends all boundaries of language and race. Therefore, it makes it an effective communication tool. That is your vision. To further enhance your artistic skills in order to communicate with the world sans words. Your vision is that of a future where art becomes a major form of communicating with one another, etc. The rest of your essay just does not help to answer the prompt. I suggest that you work on my suggestion for your vision. Developing its basis from your experience with your grandfather. Your family troubles did not really help to create your vision as an artist nor give you an intention for becoming one. Your grandfather did that for you. He gave back your artistic vision and gave you a clear intention for becoming a visual artist. Writing the essay from that point of view will definitely satisfy the requirements of the essay prompt.

The quote from Aristotle and your accompanying explanation is an excellent way of opening the essay and presenting your vision. It transitions very well into the discussion about how drawing helped you connect with your Chinese grandfather. The fact that you discuss Calligraphy shows a serious artistic vision and understanding on your part. You certainly did not miss out on the opportunity to connect the benefits of drawing with building a relationship with your grandfather. Thus creating a solid vision and understanding of the importance of art communication between people.

- You can develop this section more by explaining to us how your relationship with your grandfather was improved by simply drawing together. Explain the unique language that the two of you used via drawings to share your thoughts with one another.This will help prove your vision of communicating through art.

- This is just filler. It is not sharing anything about your vision. It is best to skip it at this point. This information is best used in a personal essay, not a statement of intent.


- This is more in line with the prompt. Keep this part as is, but mention something again about your vision of developing the art of communication through visual arts.

This essay may just work for an Artist Statement. It would really depend upon the prompt that is provided for the essay. If you can provide the essay prompt, we can work with you to align this statement with the new one. Normally, a fresh essay is to be used with every new prompt. However, there are times when tweaking and paraphrasing will also work. It all depends upon the requirements and expectations of the essay.

Parsons Artist Statement. Suggestions?

I tweaked my Statement of Intent for the SVA to use for a Parsons Artist Statement. If there are any suggestions to make this stronger, I would be grateful to hear it.

What do you make, how do you make it, and why do you make? Ultimately, where do you visualize
your creative abilities and academic study to take you after your education here at Parsons?

Aristotle said, "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." To me, art is a language that people can understand without the need for words. Art can transcend the boundaries of language and race to something universal. Creating art is a way for me to express emotions that are felt inwardly, in ways that cannot be said through other means. The amazing thing is that what I make; my feelings, my thoughts, these are all represented onto a surface in unlimited ways for others to see.

Growing up, I would often see my grandfather doing calligraphy and watercolor using an ink and brush to create pieces. It was him who opened up my eyes to drawing and painting. We would spend afternoons practicing and with his help, I learned the beauty of the calligraphy art form and the watercolor art form.

In high school, my grandfather was diagnosed with throat cancer. The cancer had gotten to a point where he could no longer speak. I no longer had a way to communicate with him because he did not know English and I wrote Chinese poorly. We began to draw together. Drawing was our way of communication. Even better, with drawing, we were able to express things we felt that we would otherwise never say to each other. Because of a lack of communication that we would otherwise have through speaking, drawing was an activity that we took time to do. This was the first time I felt a closeness with him that was not apparent before. It was my grandfather who gave me back my insight to becoming an artist.

I yearn to share stories through images in just that same way that will give meaning and reaction to my work. Art is communication and a connection between souls. Art is an emotion. I will not be satisfied until I can reach out to people the same way I connected to my grandfather.

In order to make my vision a reality, I need to step out of what is known and comfortable to me in order to develop as a person and explore opportunities. I want to engulf myself into the art that New York City has to offer me. My intention is to put my heart into the experiences and education that I can receive in order to grow stronger in my techniques and learn new skills at __. Making art in a surrounding that will push me forward is one step closer to pursuing my first and only dream of becoming a visual artist.

- Hc, we need to adjust the content of your vision statement for your Artist Statement. At the very start of the essay, you need to address the above quote in order to lay the foundation for the rest of your explanation. We may need to reduce the story about your grandfather in a certain way so that the answer aligns itself with the prompt. So I need to know, have you given any consideration to the academic path that you want to take while studying at Parsons?

Let us consider your creative abilities for a moment. what previous steps did you take to enhance your natural gift for the arts? What subjects to you look forward to taking at Parsons in support of this creative growth? How do you expect those courses to help you develop your creative abilities?

Now we know that most people do not consider Art to be an academically challenging major. How do you plan to create an academic learning environment for yourself at Parsons that will challenge you to learn more than just the arts? What do you hope to learn academically while at the university? Why do you think it is important to learn those things?

Finally, I need to you imagine how your creative and academic learning at Parson's will combine in the future to create a new personality in you. After you graduate, how do you visualize yourself as an artist and as a person? Can you reconcile those two separate images into one in your mind? How do you see yourself in 4 years? Will you be the embodiment of the best traits and qualities that a Parson can show the world?

These but a few guide questions that I believe can help us sort out your Artist Statement. We may need to adjust the content and redirect some existing information at the moment in order to answer the prompt correctly. Don't be scared. We are all here to help you get this done right :-) You can rely on our guidance every step of the way.

hc, I strongly advise that you drop the Aristotle quote and rework the story of your grandfather into the essay. Your essay should be along the lines of "I create Calligraphy by using long hand painted strokes on a white canvass. It is a Chinese form of artistic writing that has existed for centuries. I make calligraphy art because it reminds me very much of the power of art to create relationships among people who do not speak the same language. I create Calligraphy in memory of my grandfather, I create Calligraphy because I want to be able to communicate with people without using words." This is the line of reasoning that you must use in order to answer the question


After having read your completed essay, I can tell you that you have not satisfied the given prompts at all. You did not even try to answer the list of questions that I listed down for you to answer. Had you answered my questions, the design for you answer to the question


would have been completed and we would now just be working on the grammar issues and format finalization.
You need to answer my questions so that your essay answer will fall into the given prompt. You should learn to align your answer to the first question using my sample answer above. Once you have done that, post the new version in this thread so we can further help you clean it up :-)

Okay, I hope that this writing is a little bit more in the lines of the prompt. Thanks for reading.

To me, art is a language that people can understand without the need for words. Art can transcend the boundaries of language and race to something universal. Creating art is a way for me to express emotions that are felt inwardly, in ways that cannot be said through other means. I take the experiences I encounter, my feelings, my thoughts and represent them onto a surface in unrestricted ways for others to see. I create ink wash paintings and calligraphy art because it reminds me of the strength in art to create relationships among people. I create in memory of my grandfather. I create because I want to communicate with people without words.

Growing up, I would often see my grandfather doing calligraphy and ink wash to create pieces. It was him who opened up my eyes to drawing and painting. We would spend afternoons practicing and with his help, I learned the beauty of the calligraphy art form and the ink wash painting art form.

In high school, my grandfather was diagnosed with throat cancer. The cancer had gotten to a point where he could no longer speak. I no longer had a way to communicate with him because he did not know English and I wrote Chinese poorly. We began to draw together. Drawing was our way of communication. Even better, with drawing, we were able to express things we felt that we would otherwise never say to each other. This was the first time I felt a closeness with him that was not apparent before.

Since then, I yearn to share stories through images in just that same way that will give meaning and reaction to my work. Art is communication and a connection between souls. Art is an emotion. I will not be satisfied until I can reach out to people the same way I connected to my grandfather. I make art because I want to inspire others, especially our youth, in the same way I was inspired. I want to enhance their creativity and open their eyes to various art forms.

I imagine Parsons creating an academically challenging path for me in order to improve my current abilities. After education at Parsons, I will be able to demonstrate my creative and technical skills and show the influence that my teachers, my environment and my peers have had on me. I am hoping that after Parsons, I will have the opportunity to showcase my creativeness and innovative ability to children. My goal after Parsons is to bring forth the importance of interpersonal communication through teaching. I aspire to invest time into the youth. I want to work to challenge them, develop a relationship with them and open their world into the unlimited possibilities that art can bring them. I want to inspire our youth and guide them towards a dream the same way my grandfather did for me.

Hc, your essay has improved remarkably. I found some portions that needed revising though. I have included my thoughts on some points that I felt needed clarification as well.


- It was he who opened...


- ... I have yearned...


- I connected with my...


- Upon graduation from Parsons,


- How exactly did you end up talking about teaching when you were supposed to be talking about your visions for your future plans after Parsons? This would be more acceptable if you said something along the lines of "After graduating from Parsons, I hope to be able to share my knowledge about interpersonal communications through the arts by teaching children about the power of non-verbal communication through arts."

One more revision and this should be ready to submit :-)

Thanks for your help Van, I just updated my essays and I've sent them out. I feel a bit more confident because of your help. I really appreciate it.