The School of the Arts has found several ways to keep prospective students engaged in pursuing a major in the arts. The school has accomplished this through Virtual College Fairs, Christian Ministry Virtual Information Sessions and Virtual Audition sessions.
Yet another way that the Arts department is allowing students to learn more about the different opportunities that are offered in the School of the Arts is through Virtual Art and Design Days.
Professor and Department Chair of the School of the Arts Scott Fisk provided more information on the Art and Design Days.
“We typically host a couple of Art and Design Days for high school students each year,” he said. “Normally, we do in-person creative activities, but this year we just completed our first digital Art and Design Day.”
Arts Recruiter Katie Overturf explained the timeline of days.
“We have prospective students, juniors, seniors and transfer students who will attend a thirty-minute information session at 4 p.m. and following the information sessions, we will have breakout sessions,” Overturf said.
The breakout sessions allow prospective and transfer students to meet with a faculty member to get more information on the School of the Arts programs, while juniors and seniors can meet with a faculty member and receive feedback on their scholarship portfolios.
Another component of the Art and Design Days is that students can participate in designing a project.
“Students can design a virtual project with faculty on Zoom, so they can see the community that they may be joining in the future,” Overturf said.
Overturf conveyed a sense of surprise regarding the recruitment for the School of the Arts, because, despite COVID-19, the arts department is still able to safely conduct its recruitment activities.
“Recruitment is going surprisingly well, I think that a huge part of our success is that we are still doing stuff. Such as performing, and having socially-distanced classes where we are singing with masks and face shields and still creating art in the art lofts,” Overturf said.“I think families are really appreciative of us being safe but also not saying that the creating stops just because of COVID-19.”
The School of the Arts is having one more virtual art and design day for the fall semester, which will take place on Nov. 6 from 4-4:30 p.m. To sign up for this event, visit the School of the Arts website.
Staff Writer
