Otherwise titled: “What am I supposed to do with a degree in fiber arts, and do I really need to keep going to an expensive, though prestigious, art school in order to pursue my dreams? Thanks biased American culture, thanks.”
Apron based on vintage pattern, Fall 2008
Ok guys, I don’t know what to do. I am not a designer. More specifically, I’m not a fashion designer, nor do I have any desire to be one. And while making the above apron was so extremely satisfying (as my first piece of clothing, I think it’s pretty awesome, let’s be honest), I know that making clothes is not going to be satisfying for me as a career. I enjoy setting up my dress-makers mannequin in my room as a creepy presence; doing anything more with it just doesn’t make sense to me. Taking costume design in the fall is going to be good for me, something to fall back on, but it’s not what I want to do and I have a feeling that class is going to find me hugging my mannequin, the two of us swaddled in layers of muslin, and me feeling extremely lost. Nor do I want to design industrial fabrics, home decor, or be the person who operates the embroidery machine in those sportswear embellishment shops. Nor do I really want my weavings to do anything; they don’t need to be dishcloths or towels or table runners. Or scarves for that matter. It’s just not me.
And, as I previously mentioned, I have an old and beautiful copy of A Dress Maker’s Pattern Book sitting on my shelf, do I really need to still be in school to continue the things I’ve already learned how to do? A good artist can admit that there are always things to learn, but do I need to learn those things in the small perspective nook that is MICA’s fiber department? I can’t afford to study abroad, and now that I’ve invested this much time (and dough) in MICA, I can’t very well leave now. Not that I really want to, but it does seem silly to me that if all I want to do is just weave beautiful cloth, what am I doing here? The way I see it, most people don’t do anything with their college degrees, but as long as they have one they are good to go in today’s career world. But higher education is more of a business than anything else, and I kind of hate the fact that I’m playing in to it. I have a loom, I have the basic skills, and I’ve always been self-educating, yet I keep on giving MICA more money to not challenge me.
Someone get me out of here!
Coming soon: “The Quest for Professional Development in a Really Hilariously Strange Art Medium”
Thank you so much for this post, Rachel… I think many people struggle with this. My own university degree is in pharmaceutical sciences and topically unrelated to what I’m doing these days for my own business, however, I try to remember that higher education has never been about technical or job-related training. Higher education shows you HOW to learn new things and gives you the paddling pool to do all your experimentation. Being self-motivated enough to be a life-long learner is so important, but maybe right now, you have the opportunity to experiment to your heart’s content in the fiber dept. The other thing I’ve found is that people go to programs like these to build relationships and a future professional network. You never know if MICA might ask you back to teach in the future.
You are absolutely right Felicia. Those are important things to remember, things I try to remind myself of daily. I actually talk about networking and professional development in my next post!