<p>First of all Kudos to this entire form for their words of experience and wisdom to someone sitting on the fence. I am continually impressed with the words people share here amongst what many might see as a collective of complete strangers. Zinc-oxide, fineartsmajormom, kaelyn, bears and dogs, your efforts are certainly not going unnoticed here! Though mine may show up wearing a different veil. </p>
<p>@Purplicious</p>
<p>Beyond the identity and title ascribed by the curriculum and possibly the degree I think the conflict your facing most is in allowing yourself the time and consideration to just be you. You are obviously making a grave mistake in inferring a measurement of your creativity from the people and world around you and this certainly happens to all of us. I go into paralysis when I over-think people like Joseph Beuys and need to work but at other times he can be the great liberator of my predisposition to inhibit myself. There is a time we must turn everything off and fumble around in the dark to find ourselves and explore the ideas of authenticity since it is only when finding the trail of this that we can honestly feel a sense of becoming with regards to our own warm fuzzies we define as creativity. Academia is nothing more then a sense of community and a flirtation with new stimulus complimented by a specific organization of boundaries and road maps that may (or may not) give us the perspective necessary to persist in our creative endeavors. I will agree with Kaelyn in recognizing many great artists never studied art (especially in this day and age) but the people who really speak hybridize disciplines wither formally or informally. Art will teach you the valuable lessons of high ordered adaptation, problem solving, design, and frame it in the context of history/humanities/philosophy but it will be your personal responsibility to invest into yourself the ability to take delight in failure. </p>
<p>Your goal for your entire undergraduate degree should be to take enormous risks (intellectually/financially/socially) and to fail and fail repeatedly, to do whatever you must to provoke the most passionate brutal criticism from the often indifferent faculty members who tend to only like or dislike work, strike up the sighs of disapproval and discouragement from your advisers and peers, and sum them up to complete the feeling of accomplishment regardless of the grades you receive in the end. If a professor shows a spark of passion in disliking someone like Richard Serra then your new duty is to embrace Richard Serra obsessively until you can reach a different perspective then the one inflicted upon you. It is invaluable to have these points at which to depart. </p>
<p>If you want to make beautiful lines and share lovely symbols, and glorify the world with complimentary colors, I might suggest studying architecture, interior design, consumer sciences, textiles, or even graphic design. Art will have no use or room for you in it’s ongoing dialog that is so vital to our species that we owe it enough respect to know when to silence ourselves and step out into another field like agriculture for instance at which our sensibilities might find a better home to lay dormant in. </p>
<p>Craft is an obsolete and antiquated idea in the practice and discourse of art. Perhaps I should recommend people like Maslow and Rogers to you as a start to exploring your sense of humanity and potential to contribute to a dialogue needing many many more speakers on it’s behalf. One night a week with make magazine and a few hours to fumble in the dark could well make for a far better dialogue then years at Pratt or RISD. </p>
<p>B U T</p>
<p>If you do decide to jump in and continue the conversation with your art practice know that you owe yourself a lot of time and experience to bring out what belongs on the table (along with patience). The quickest path to take your seat is to delight and carve out the countless rewards of failure, the clarity of mistakes, and the timeless significance of the many unintended results that introduce beauty into our lives.</p>