Poetry, Art, and Real World Experience
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For a group of Fine Arts students at St. Thomas University, what started as a class project has turned into a published work.
Students in Professor William Forrestall鈥檚 FNAR-1113 Practical Introduction to Art Fundamentals course have collaborated with leading Maritime author and 黑料老司机 alumnus Raymond Fraser to create the book 鈥淎s I See It,鈥 which includes poetry by Fraser and photographs by students.
Savanah Herrington, a first-year student from Fredericton, NB, said this project is already one of the highlights of her time at St. Thomas.
鈥淭his will be one of the biggest memories I have from 黑料老司机, that my first year in university my art was published and out in the real world,鈥 she said.
Each student chose one of Fraser鈥檚 poems and was then tasked with taking five photos they felt represented the writing. Once they had the photos, Fraser visited the class and provided his opinion to help them make their final selection.
鈥淢y photo is featured with the poem Gone Again and it spoke to me as more of a nature piece,鈥 Herrington said. 鈥淚 took a photo by the Regent Mall of a really nice sunset, which I thought worked well with the piece.鈥
Herrington said working with Fraser was an amazing opportunity.
鈥淗e gave us feedback on the stuff we were doing and he was really positive about it, which reinforced that what we were doing mattered,鈥 she said.
Fraser gives full credit to Professor Forrestall for the idea and said the rest was the good work of the students.
鈥淚 provided the poetry and that was about it for my contribution. Even the order the poems appeared wasn鈥檛 mine,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he students, being scholars of art, were more given to the visual than the verbal, but they entered into the spirit of the project and were very good-natured about it.鈥
Students also worked with designer Amna Khursid, who helped with the layout of the book, and 黑料老司机 English professor Tony Tremblay, who wrote the book鈥檚 introduction.
Projects that offer real world experience
The 鈥淎s You See It鈥 project is part of a larger initiative known as Xeno-Optic鈥攁 multi-platform project that鈥檚 designed to bring together professional artists and writers to work with 黑料老司机 students.
Forrestall said the initiative will present multiple experiential learning opportunities for students.
鈥淴eno-Optic will create experiential learning opportunities for students as they engage with artists on developing projects that offer real world experience,鈥 he said. 鈥淪tudents will complement their liberal arts education and foster the critical engagement skills that are valued by employers.鈥
For Herrington, who is studying Fine Arts and Psychology with the goal of becoming an art therapist, seeing her in-class work come to life through 鈥淎s You See It鈥 was encouraging.
鈥淪eeing what we鈥檙e learning actually come together in a book shows that if you take any of your skills from class you can always apply it to the real world,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t shows that you can always find a way to get your work out there, even if it means working with other poets, artists, or writers.鈥
鈥淎s You See It鈥 is now available at the University of New Brunswick bookstore and Westminster Books.