EXPERIENCE CFAC 2022 WINNERS BERKELEY RICHARD
Berkeley Richard | Visual Media 2nd Place
Department of Art (Art)
Instagram: @berkfast
“It felt really amazing to take things I have learned from being in the art program here at BYU and applying them to achieve my goals as an artist in the real world. It felt empowering and encouraging to successfully collaborate with an important community program. I realized that finding ways to support and create art opportunities for individuals with disabilities was something I want to continue to do for the rest of my life.”
For my experiential learning I requested funding to lead an artist workshop for a community program called Rivers Way in Bristol, TN. Rivers Way is a non-profit that provides opportunities for youth and young adults with differing abilities to grow as individuals while making positive contributions to their community. For my workshop, We met on May 9th-13th at the Bristol Library from 2pm-5pm. I led daily art projects that involved painting and drawing and included time for free painting where the participants could create what they chose. At the end we had a show in the library and planned a reception that the library generously provided refreshments for. I hired a photographer to take professional photos of the event that I then compiled into a book. Later, the same show of all the participants work was displayed in the locally famous Blackbird Bakery where it was up for the entire month of July.
Giving back to my hometown was something this experience gave me that I would not have been able to do on campus. I developed the skills to think on my feet about what would work best for the varying abilities of the participants. I developed planning skills that involved coordinating with a non-profit and aligning my goals of the workshop with what they were able to do. I developed the skill to gather people from my community and get people involved in an exciting and rewarding project.
I think this experience made me a better practitioner in my field because it taught me about what my field can do for the community. The art field has the power to help people find joy in expressing themselves.
After having the opportunity for such an awesome experience my future plans involve teaching more workshops like this one. I plan to do more workshops like this one with Rivers Way and I plan to do workshops like this one in other communities that I am or become a part of.