Santo Schiavone (Class of 2027)
Blogger Role: Illustration
Major: Illustration
Minor: Business
Clubs: CMYKlub, Zeta Omicron Kappa Pi International Art Honor Society
I chose Marywood because it is close to home so I would be able to see my family whenever. Also, Marywood has a great art department and they offered my desired major. Not only does Marywood offer an amazing, state of the art facility for studio arts in the Inslaco Center, but they also have the Shields Center for Visual and Graphic Arts.
I am majoring in Art because art brings joy in my life and allows me to express myself. For anyone that knows me, I am a Halloween fanatic who loves anything oriented to Halloween and horror. Therefore, I want to enhance my abilities and skills with art as well as carry it with me in my future endeavors.
When I’m not in class, I work part-time jobs, and a full-time job at Spirit Halloween during the Halloween season. Besides work, I enjoy playing video games alone or with friends, watching horror movies and TV shows, spending time with my family, and of course, creating art for pleasure. I am ecstatic to pursue my education in both of these facilities at Marywood University as an Illustration major!
So far, my favorite art class at Marywood was ART 221, Concept Design Thinking, because it involved some of my favorite projects. For example, for one assignment we had to create something anthropomorphic. For my project, I chose to illustrate an anthropomorphic Spider that sells spider-webbed cotton candy. Also in this class, I can always choose my medium of work. I find it beneficial to be able to choose my medium of work because it allows me to choose a medium I am comfortable with when needed, yet I also have the opportunity to challenge myself with a new medium.
The coolest thing I’ve done at Marywood so far was have my artwork featured on the First Friday in Scranton for October in 2023. This was one of the first times I had the opportunity to have my work featured for the public, local eye. The piece featured was a digital illustration of a Spirit Halloween animatronic, the Grave Watcher.
When I graduate, I hope to work full-time at Spirit Halloween as a design team member. Spirit Halloween designs most of their Halloween products in-house such as their exclusive animatronics. Moreover, they have a dedicated team that conceptualizes and designs the ISE (In-Store Experience) each season.
I’d recommend the Art program at Marywood because It offers a wide range of opportunities, there are always exhibitions to explore and learn from, and the faculty and staff are talented and extremely helpful.