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When people think about the arts, the first thoughts they may conjure can be those of elite places like the symphony, museums or Broadway. Places that may feel a world away to a student in rural Ohio or from an urban center with little access to those kinds of institutions and experiences. But art is also free and part of the human experience. And in today’s interconnected world, students have more access than ever to artists, both famed and amateur, who are putting their emotions out into the universe in a myriad of different ways.  

But for those looking to study art at the college level, the gatekeeping often still applies. Students often need a portfolio of formal artistic experiences or must prepare an audition to even apply to most arts-based programs. This excludes swaths of populations of students who didn’t have the ability to do much private training for a whole range of different reasons: cost, transportation, availability of teachers in their area, or coming into their interest or talent later in life. That is where the ����Թ� State College of the Arts steps in. Auditions for music, theatre and dance are designed to meet students at their level, and neither the School of Art nor the world-renowned School of Fashion require portfolios for acceptance.

“Any student can come into a program and we will welcome them where they are,” College of the Arts Dean Diane Petrella said. “We are a college that isn't only centered around a student who's had 10, 15, 20 years of previous study. We are taking students who have an interest and a capacity and saying: ‘We will welcome you in regardless of your background and we will meet you at your entry point and then challenge you and develop you. When you leave this program, you will be prepared for a career or whatever your next steps will be.’” 

Programs start with the basics for everyone. If a student has had a lot of training already, they can take the opportunity to test out of the introductory classes. Some opt to still take those courses as they move through the material quickly to bring everyone up to the same speed and many feel it’s a good refresher.   

“All of our arts-based programs are outstanding and generating strong graduates who are going out and achieving success in a variety of fields. This does not mean our programs water down the curriculum or make it easier,” Petrella said. “We simply meet the students at their entry levels, nurture their talents, and develop their skills in a way that consistently elevates their artistry. Our goal is that students end up at the highest level possible, regardless of their background. Not every institution is going to do that.”

Petrella stressed that there are many careers an arts student can pursue, whether that’s further education in graduate programs or working in the greater art world. Additionally, many employers outside of the arts seek graduates from arts programs, as it is widely recognized that artists have tremendous discipline, creativity, and collaborative skills that make them valuable employees.

“It is not unusual for a student to come into the School of Fashion with no training or  background, but just really interested in fashion. And then four years later they are landing big time jobs in New York City. It's really exciting to see,” Petrella said.

She also stressed that the skills students get through an arts curriculum are often sought after even in business jobs or corporate jobs that typically don’t seem arts focused. “There are always opportunities to take your artistic skills and monetize them, if that's what you want, or just use them as part of your life. People don't understand the opportunities and the doors that the arts will open," she said. 

And beyond the career benefits, is the impact the arts have on society as a whole. 

“The arts are what make us human,” Petrella says. “It's an important part of our society and how we tell stories about our world around us and about ourselves as individuals. Most people who participate in the arts, I think, are exploring themselves and their community and imagining  how they can impact the world. I think that's why the arts will always be an essential part of our society.” 

Jaden Millin: From Hip Hop Roots to Ballet Barre

Major: Dance Performance
Year: Freshman

Jaden Millin started dancing when he was around three years old at a program through his preschool.  

“One main reason I got put into dance classes was the Beyoncé ‘Single Ladies’ music video. I would, at three years old, all around preschool, hit this move,” Millin said. “Honestly, when I first started dancing, I think the role of like pop culture in media really played a big part.”

His parents saw his interest and enrolled him in dance class. He first learned the beginnings of tap, ballet, hip hop and jazz and when he realized how much he liked it, he started going to studios near his home in Akron. By the time he got to high school, he was focused on dancing with the Akron School of the Arts, which he supplemented with a private studio, as well.  

He said a pivotal moment for him in his decision to pursue dance in college was attending a free dance showcase in Cleveland, which included a duet from ����Թ� State.  

“Seeing the dancers on stage and knowing that that option was out there to go into professionally and for a job to sustain myself. I knew it was what I wanted to do,” Millin said.

Millin says that students have dance advisors who help guide them to figure out what they want to do in the future, and then how to get there. He's participating in an intensive this summer in Chicago and said a few of his professors helped him with making his dance combinations to get in, as well as with submitting everything he needed to help with scholarships to afford the program.  

Students who come in with a lot of dance experience like him are usually placed in a higher-level class from the beginning, but he mentions lower-level classes that are open for people with less experience or who want to minor or just explore an interest in dance. “No matter how much or how little experience you have, I think it's very accepting for the different levels here,” Millin says. “When I first came in, I wasn't very technically trained. That might have come from what styles I usually preferred to take; I was heavy with hip hop a lot of my life. So going into a very heavy, technically based major, I was very scared at first to look at my schedule and see that I had an hour and 30 minute ballet class four times a week. But overall, the professors are very understanding. They're very adjustable. And now I'd say my technique is looking a lot better than when I came into this program.”

Professors sit down with students around midterms to discuss their progress and what they can work on to achieve their goals.  

“This is a very inclusive, very peer-supportive environment. There's no toxicity. Literally everybody is friends with everybody here,” Millin said. 

Echo Davis: Shaping a New Life Through Clay

Major: Studio Art, Ceramics
Year: Senior 

Echo Davis found her passion for art by going out on a limb and trying a Groupon pottery class. She had worked in the restaurant industry for six years and had decided to leave the industry and decided to try ceramics. “Cooking was my artistic outlet,” she said. “I didn’t draw or paint. Anytime I tried to do anything artistic it didn’t feel like I was making anything worthwhile.”

She won a raffle in fifth grade in art class, which earned her the opportunity to use a pottery wheel and she liked it, but didn’t end up following up on it at the time. Fast forward to her 20s when she tried the pottery class and found she loved it. She had an encouraging instructor who told her she could pursue a higher educational career in pottery and she found the ����Թ� State ceramics program.  

“Right off the bat, ����Թ� State was one of the most realistic feeling options for me because ����Թ�'s art program doesn’t require a portfolio,” she said. “In place of a portfolio they do a mid-degree check-in to check your trajectory to see if you know what you want to do or focus on a kind of practice.”  

Davis started during COVID, which meant the first half of her time at ����Թ� State was completed through online classes. She wasn’t able to do her in first in-person studio class until years into her degree. She said the head of the Ceramics department, Peter Johnson, really took the time to make sure she had what she needed to complete her goals.  

“����Թ� really set me up for success as far as giving me the opportunity to make the work to build my portfolio,” Davis said.

She did her common review in her third year to compensate for the fact that she hadn’t gotten as much studio time because of the pandemic. She’s on track to graduate this spring along with a minor in glass work. She said everyone on the board for her common review was supportive and offered her advice on books to read and which classes to take to make sure she completed her goals.  

“Overall, it’s been really lovely. I’ve received an enormous amount of support from faculty and peers. I’ve never felt alienated or othered as an untraditional student,” she said. “It’s been such a trip to be uplifted as a student who doesn’t have the traditional art background and be given the opportunity to create the future that I want for myself.”

She hopes to move on to graduate school and arts residencies in the future. For now, she’s focusing on graduation and doesn’t want to take for granted the opportunity she’s had studying art at the college level.

"There are a lot of things that I struggle to communicate that I can communicate through art. Things I could not experience if I did not make art or view other people's arts. There is a lot of power in exploring materials, like mud and clay. It has redefined my life having a career in the arts and a degree in the arts has allowed me to view the world differently,” Davis said.  

“It’s such a full body experience to be invested in the arts,” Davis said. 

Charles Levier: A Self-Taught Pianist’s Journey Across the Country

Major: Music, Piano Performance
Year: Junior

Charles Levier decided to start playing piano during COVID as a way to keep busy. He had been a jazz drummer for 18 years, but never played the piano and he didn’t read music. So he turned to YouTube, watching people play and watching their hands move and copying that and then going online to look up the notes and figuring out how to read them.  

“I'm a lot better at memorizing, so once I read it about three times, it'll probably already be in my fingers, and I can go from there,” Levier said.

He started his college career at a community college in California, but then had a professor who recommended that he come and study at ����Թ� State with the piano professor who is now his mentor, Donna Lee, coordinator of the piano division in the School of Music.  

He learned the repertoire for his audition in three months, still not knowing how to read music fluently. “I was probably in the practice room for like 13 hours a day over that summer,” Levier said. “It was a lot of work.”  

He recorded his audition and ended up packing up and flying across the country to pursue piano.  

“My goal is to impact the musical world in some way,” Levier said. “The people who have come before me, the predecessors of the piano literature, they've really impacted how we play. And I just think it's really fascinating that their interpretations have caused such an impact on the classical music world. And I want to do that myself. I would love to share my ideas.”

His experience at his first school allowed him to test out of the first couple of levels of piano classes when he arrived, but he still sits on the introductory courses sometimes because of the graduate school friends or instructors who teach those classes and says it’s good to be reminded of the basics.  

“I really do love music to the point where I'm able to like see colors when I play the sounds and have that in my brain. If I close my eyes, I can see this color is this tambour, this tone is this and that. And so those ideas kind of float out of my music,” Levier said.  

He was inspired to see a concert of Lee's alumni who came back together for a recent anniversary of her time at the university. “It was amazing to see the seed that she had sown in these students and the fact that I'm also getting the same thing is wonderful to see,” he said. “She's given me many opportunities and life advice. All around, she's just a wonderful mentor.”

He’s been happy at ����Թ� State, learning from different professors and students. He hopes to go on to graduate level piano after he graduates and has hopes to experience many different factions of the music world, from performance to composition and even teaching at a conservatory and for kids.  

He’s been inspired by his professors and their commitment to the future of music.

“I have such a great relationship with a lot of the teachers here. All these people are working together for the greater good of the students, and that's something that I really admire here at ����Թ� State is that they do these things not for the benefit of themselves, but more so for seeing these students grow and thrive in the musical world to come,” Levier said.