Francesca Giuliani (Class of 2019)
Blogger Role: Art Therapy
Major: Art Therapy
Minor: Art History
I chose Marywood because it’s a small school with an Art Therapy program, undergrad and grad. I’ve grown up going to small schools and I like being taught in smaller class sizes due to that, so I knew I wanted to go to a smaller university. I also knew I wanted to be an art therapist so I searched school not too far away from home (I’m from Maryland) but still not too close and Marywood ended up being on that list. I finally chose this as my school when I visited and saw all the art facilities the school has to offer.
I am majoring in Art because I’ve always liked art; I looked forward to art class at my K-8th grade school since I had a great teacher who made the class and projects fun and worthwhile, but it was never serious for me until high school. I took a foundations art class, as was required by the school, and was told I was good at art. With that I got more involved in art at school; I look all the classes and really engulfed myself in art. Through experimenting with different mediums I realized this was something I wanted to continue to do for the rest of my life. I also wanted to help people in my career hence my major, Art Therapy.
When I’m not in class, I’m listening to music while embroidering (things like patches, shirts, banners, etc.), in the ceramics room experimenting (it’s my calming therapy), outside reading a book, or catching up on sleep.
My favorite art class so far was Basic Ceramics or maybe Figure Drawing I. I enjoyed them both for different reasons. Basic Ceramics was just awesome because I had never learned any type of ceramics in the past so this class was great to learn something new. I was also never a person that was into 3-D art making until ceramics. I love that I can get on a wheel and just make something useful out of a simple ball of clay; I owe that to my awesome professor who taught me all the basics that I needed to be successful in working with clay. I now go into the ceramics room on my own time and work with clay due to its calming nature. As for Figure Drawing I, I didn’t just learn how to draw a figure; I learned how to make an image aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I learned how to keep an audience interested in the piece and keep the eye moving within the piece, which is a necessity when making an artwork.
The coolest thing I’ve done at Marywood so far was a bronze casting. In Sculpture I we did a bronze casting. We got to build clay positives and make their negatives to pour bronze into. We literally got to heat up the bronze and get decked out into safety suits to pour the melted bronze ourselves into the molds. It was such a cool experience to learn how it all works and watch our pieces come to life.
When I graduate I want to be an art therapist working with war veterans with PTSD or adolescents in a mental hospital. I think both of these populations are often forgotten about or misunderstood, so I want to work with them and give them the attention they deserve and need. I’m open to working with any population those are just the ones that come to mind first when I think about my future.
I’d recommend the Art program at Marywood because the classes are small, therefore you get individualized help, and the art facilities are great. There’s all the different studios art students have access to. The professors are here to help you improve and understand art while also allowing you to experiment personally with your art, whether it’s working with a new medium like wood in the woodshop or simply trying to understand ways to improve a painting. The professors guide you through all that.
