An ode to the time I was kicked out of a class in art school and how I got back in
Where to start?
I transferred to School of Visual Arts in 2013 from Lafayette College to study Graphic Design. At first they were going to make me freshman again. Even though I had just finished my sophomore year at Lafayette.
So I did what any desperate person would do, I scheduled a meeting with the department head Richard Wilde. In this meeting, he was hesitant to change this ruling, so I pleaded for him to let me show the portfolio I used to get into the school. He agreed and I pulled up my society6 account. He gave it a look over and then said, “You made all of these?”. I said that I had. And then miraculously he agreed to make me a sophomore.
I wrote him a thank you note and told him that I would not let him down. Words that would come back to bite me… but we’ll get there.
I was placed into his core graphic design class and was ready to start my journey as an art student. The photo included in this article is the first assignment I created in his class.
His class was great, I learned so much and marveled at the work my fellow students created in the class. For every project, he would turn the lights off and display the strongest projects created for that week’s homework.
At first this was so great and I eagerly paid attention hoping that my work would make it to the screen. I say at first because this class was pretty early in the morning and eventually sitting in the dark would lead to bouts of sleepiness. Additionally, sometimes this process felt monotonous because it was kind of like seeing the same project over and over again (not every time but sometimes).
Now the day that I will never forget. During one of these presentations, one of my friends pulled out his phone and showed me a gif. I believe it was of Lindsey Lohan’s face spinning on the body of a turkey. I think it was almost thanksgiving… and I couldn’t help but burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Richard, rightfully annoyed, yelled in front of the whole class, “You and you, leave and never come back”. So I left. I ran straight to the office to explain what had just happened and then burst into tears.
The kind folks in the office didn’t know what to do so they told me to calm down and return later when I was feeling better.
When I returned, I was notified that I was indeed kicked out of his class and instead placed into a class called “Originality”.
Now, at this point I was annoyed and felt like a failure. I had just entered this school and here I was. I honestly did not know what to do.
I sucked it up and went to my first Originality class. I felt like I was an original person and that I did not need to be there. I watched as my classmates went one by one to the board and showed things they believed were original. Some people totally half-assed this assignment and it showed. I sat in my seat getting more and more aggravated by the moment. Then they showed their sketchbooks, and the teacher who I grew to love later in my career at SVA, walked around saying “wow, I’ve never seen that before”. Mind you, she was really trying to be nice and supportive, but after a few rounds of hearing this phrase I was ready to bolt out the door.
Luckily, this story has a happy resolution. My Graphic Design I professor, Frank Young, came to the rescue. I told him the situation I was in and he told me not to worry and to write Richard an apology note. So I diligently poured my heart and soul into a note and dropped it off to his receptionist.
The next week I was placed back in Richard’s class.
Soon after James Victore came to the class to give a talk. He called us all sheep and I was captivated. So I sent him an email asking if he needed an intern. And in this email, titled “Free labor”, I explained what had just happened and what his talk meant to me. And he responded:
So what did I do? I wrote a blog post about it and he wrote back:
So to sum everything up. Please don’t get kicked out of a class in art school, but if you do try your very best to make up for it!
And reach out to your idols because you never know, they may respond!
