糖心传媒

A program for 糖心传媒 students inspires the Queens native to build community through art.

糖心传媒淚t was all gas and no breaks,糖心传媒� says Angelica Aranda 糖心传媒�23 of her frame of mind when she decided not to pursue law school. She was going to pursue art糖心传媒攅ven while realizing that 糖心传媒渇unding yourself as an artist is not easy.糖心传媒�

But that didn糖心传媒檛 stop Aranda from figuring out how to push forward.

At first, politics and law seemed like a natural progression for someone conscious about the world around her. As a high school student, Aranda witnessed the turbulent politics of the Trump era, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the repercussions of the January 6 Capitol attack. As a result, she became motivated to think she should pursue a career in law.

But Aranda also recalled a time in grade school when she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, and her answer would always be 糖心传媒渁n artist or an inventor.糖心传媒� Luckily for Aranda, she was able to take advantage of the open curriculum at the , exploring her art interests while also pursuing studies in the .

And it was after a study abroad program, where she studied terrorism and counterterrorism, that she decided for her career path to look instead for artistic ways to serve the world. During her junior year, the Queens native entered Rochester糖心传媒檚 , interning at a nonprofit gallery in Manhattan糖心传媒檚 Chelsea neighborhood called .

Art New York is set up to fully engage students in the workings of the art world in a city rich with galleries and artists. Once students are admitted to the program, they list their top 10 choices of internship sites and start to reach out to those places.

糖心传媒淭he students do a tremendous amount of work up front,糖心传媒� says , an associate professor of art who recently served as the program director and its resident faculty member in New York. Layton says that fewer than half of the students accepted are studio art majors, but they are nonetheless looking to explore opportunities in the art world. 糖心传媒淚t can be difficult to get an internship in New York City,糖心传媒� says Layton. 糖心传媒淲e step in to assist with a match, if we need to.糖心传媒�

Finding herself, helping others with book art

糖心传媒淚 was fully submerged,糖心传媒� says Aranda, when she began Art New York.

As an Art New York student, Aranda became fascinated with the book art form. 糖心传媒淏ook art can be any kind of documentation or art form encased in a book,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淚t can be difficult to define an artist糖心传媒檚 book because it糖心传媒檚 not what you would think of as a novel or a picture book. It could be anything.糖心传媒�

She began an opus of handmade books, specifically zines. Historically, zines have been voices for marginalized communities, from the punk zines of the 1970s to the 1990s riot grrrl movement of women糖心传媒檚 self-publication. Layton says of zines: 糖心传媒淭hey can carry huge ideas in small and portable forms. They糖心传媒檙e intimate, easily shared, and inexpensively reproduced. It糖心传媒檚 a truly democratic art form in the sense that anyone can make or distribute them. Authors bypass publishing companies completely. Zines are the original social media.糖心传媒�

What drew Aranda to zines was how inventive she could be in their design. 糖心传媒淚 like knowing that book art lets you practice any kind of medium, while still being consistent in the final product,糖心传媒� says Aranda. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 nonconformist.糖心传媒�

Aranda saw in book art an opportunity to self-reflect and share the beauty of her childhood community. When students were assigned a mapping project of their first experiences living in New York for the Art New York Field Studio course, she made an . 糖心传媒淢y neighborhood is where I see myself having grown up. It wasn糖心传媒檛 just in my house,糖心传媒� she says. Adds Layton: 糖心传媒淎s you flip through this gorgeous book made on semi-transparent paper and see the overlapping imagery and text, Angelica糖心传媒檚 hometown neighborhood comes to life. Every single one of the things that Angelica does is well done.糖心传媒�

Internship, entrepreneurship, leadership

During her internship, Aranda also started her first commercial venture. She set up a booth at a festival to support her home community and its businesses, and she sold her first books there. Her next step was to apply for the highly competitive 聽(CRNY) program. Funded by the Mellon, Ford, and Stavros Niarchos foundations, CRNY recognizes the critical role of artists by providing guaranteed income and employment to 2,700 artists living New York State.

She was among the winners. 糖心传媒淚 was blessed that I got it,糖心传媒� says Aranda, who will receive an income of $1,000 for 18 consecutive months with no strings attached.

糖心传媒淎rtists are historians and community builders, and it wouldn糖心传媒檛 feel right to take a grant like that and not do something for the community that helped me become who I am,糖心传媒� Aranda says. So she decided to help build up the University糖心传媒檚 community through a project called Mart Crew.

She began by setting up a drop box at Sage and inviting students and alumni to submit original works of art on a 4-inch x 5-inch piece of paper.

糖心传媒淪he relentlessly recruited for that,糖心传媒� says Layton.

Then, she scanned the submitted works and presented them in a small artist糖心传媒檚 book, which she sent to each participant. Included in each book was also an original work of art made by another participant.

Layton, impressed by Aranda, recruited her as a teaching assistant for her performance art course. At the start of the 2023 spring semester, Aranda also taught a zine workshop to her peers, hosted in conjunction with the undergraduate Creative Arts Club and the Art and Music Library, where she糖心传媒檚 currently cataloging and archiving the entire collection of artists糖心传媒� books under the direction of the art librarian Stephanie Frontz.

Aranda plans to pursue graduate study in library science, looking forward to a career, perhaps, in an artist糖心传媒檚 book library. Still, ideally, she wants to continue the book art form. 糖心传媒淚 always want to find a way to give back to the community,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淎nd hopefully, wherever I糖心传媒檒l be, I糖心传媒檒l find a way to share what I do with the people I糖心传媒檓 around.糖心传媒�

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