Dominique Rishcoff (Class of 2018)
Major: Sculpture
Minor: Marketing
I choose Marywood because it was close to home but far enough away that I could dorm on campus. I also like how the campus is small and everyone knows each other.
I am majoring in art because it has always been a passion of mine to create something out of nothing and then being able to share that with others. I am majoring in sculpture because I like to create things that can be interacted with and seen from all angles. I want to be a jeweler and I felt like sculpture was the best route to take because of the materials that are used in the courses. I admire Vincent Van Gogh even though he is a painter and not a sculptor. I take a lot of his color choices and use them in my own work. I admire him for his ability to continue his work even though he was ridiculed and ostracized. I want to be able to have the motivation to continue my work even if I fail at something first.
When I’m not in class, I’m either working on projects or at practice for the Marywood Dance Team. I also spend time working on my own side projects in the art building.
My favorite class was Sculpture. I really liked the teacher and the projects we got to work on. Our first project was to create an abstract wood sculpture. I really enjoyed working on that project because the possibilities of how the project could have turned out were endless. Overall the class felt like a family and we all encouraged each other to work to the best of our abilities.
The coolest thing I’ve done so far was make a small sculpture out of bronze. It was my first metal sculpture and it felt like such an accomplishment. The sculpture was supposed to be figurative so I choose to make a dragonfly. My teacher tried to encourage my goals of jewelry making by having me make it small enough to wear. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it small enough and after it was cast it was too heavy to wear. It was still a fun experience and I learned a lot from it.
When I graduate I hope to work for a jeweler for a few year before moving on to owning my own business. I think that having some experience with how a jewelry business works is a good idea. When I was in fifth grade I started to make small pieces of jewelry. They weren’t very professional but I continued to progress and try different techniques. From then on I really enjoyed the idea of being able to wear art.
I’d recommend the Art program at Marywood because the classes are small and personable, you develop a personal relationship with your classmates and teachers, and you also learn valuable skills as an artist just in your first year.
