I’m now an enthusiastic advocate of community college; especially for folks like me who entered a new life passage and wanted to try something new. Oil painting and drawing pulls on me with a lot of affinity and good vibes. I found a place to dip my toe in the water in 2011 and have not looked back. It was a highlight in May to graduate after many years of studying art, especially oil painting and drawing, at Brookhaven College in the Dallas, Texas area. It’s my second career and I used a fine local community college to catch me up on art training that other younger students had learned in four years of high school and at two years at Brookhaven College. The certification of graduation is part demonstrated commitment and part accomplishment.
Gail Sheehy, author of New York Times Bestseller, Passages(http://gailsheehy.com/) alerted us to the passages or stages in life and the meanings they have spiritually, socially and physically. Most of all, she got across the point that these passages exist and need to be respected for what they are. We must deal with change. In business we work with change management when major changes must be made in a business. Life is similar, but more subtle in an everyday way. Graduation from college is a passage that I wanted to experience first-hand. I attended my first commencement as a student in 2015; what a joyful experience in a room full of diverse, happy students and their families!
The ‘icing on the cake’ in May was the 2015 Juried Art Student Exhibition which culminated in prizes and purchases awards. Brookhaven College has a small budget to purchase art to hang on the walls of its institution. Brookhaven purchased one of my paintings, Left-hand Man; http://www.zhibit.org/julieenglandart/oil-painting-abstracts/my-left-hand-man-after-c-foust
It was a compliment to be collected by this institution and be accepted into a unique group of talented artists that the professors have chosen throughout the years.
In addition, the ‘cherry on top’ was an Associates of Art Qualifying Exhibition of six Brookhaven College graduates in June. These students are successfully moving on to four-year colleges both in and out of state. Each student had six to ten pieces of art hung professionally on an entire wall or on pedestals of the Forum Gallery. The personality of each painter popped off the wall. It was a real treat to experience the art serenely in a spacious gallery. The visitors to the gallery ranged from potential art buyers to gallery owners to professors from four-year colleges. This was Brookhaven College’s first Associates of Art Qualifying Exhibition and it was successful with a high number of visitors including the last day of the exhibition.
It’s time to give credit where it is deserved. Thank you, Brookhaven College, for an outstanding art experience for this corporate refugee. And a special note of gratitude and appreciation to Professors Marla Ziegler, Chong Chu, David Newman, Natalie Macellaio, Julie Shipp and Betsy Belcher. Also, I would like to acknowledge Professor and Art Department Chair, Lisa Ehrlich, for sponsoring the first ever Associates of Art Qualifying Exhibition at Brookhaven College.