It is almost cliché to talk about liberal art students and their search for substantial employment post-college. This summer, however, a few Hillsdale College art graduates put their talent and ambition to good use, making big waves in the world outside Hillsdale.
Focusing primarily on sculpture, Natalie Knudsen ‘12 acted as both assistant and student to Associate Profes- sor of Art Anthony Frudakis. This opportunity allowed her to experience the stress and joy of working in a studio. She
spent the time developing her own skills, and by the end of the summer she sculpted two pieces of her own.
“It’s all the same materials like latex, airbrush, paint, etc., so I will learn prosthetics and could learn how to do all that with animatronics,” she said
Working in the studio over the summer also helped to prepare her for her upcoming class and part time job learning animatronics working with The Character Shop, an anima- tronics company out of Los Angeles, Calif.
“I definitely want to keep all the things I learned from Fru- dakis,” Knudsen said. “I never want to lose that. I want to do momentous sculpture in the
future, but if special effects are something I have a knack for then I want to go into it more.”
On the other end of the arts spectrum, Kirsty Sadler ‘11 and Rachael Erichsen ‘11 have impacted the world of theater since their graduation two years ago.
“The right skills and the right personality are the big things,” costume designer and lecturer in theater Bryan Simmons said, describing what was needed to get good theatri- cal jobs. “The theater world is small, so there are a lot of con- nections and your work ethic can be tracked down because everyone knows one another.”
Simmons said recently graduated theater majors
are typically forced to work multiple jobs, but both Sadler and Erichsen have broken this trend, producing and designing their own work with theaters on the east coast. Sadler pro- duced a puppet show in New York, and Erichsen designed costuming for multiple shows.
“I had great fun making costumes, working with New York and D.C. designers, running shows, and making friends,” Erichsen said. “The summer saw all of my dreams come true when I joined the Traveling Players Ensemble as their Assistant Head of Cos- tume Shop.”
Polishing what she has dubbed her “persona as a bohemian gypsy,” Erichsen has
spent the past two years de- signing for the Olney Theatre Center, where she has honed her skill with design. Erichsen worked in productions such as “The Complete works of Shakespeare [Abridged]” and “Little Red Riding Hood.”
Professor of Art Sam Knecht said Moriah Morgan ‘12 and Nell O’Leary ‘12 are using their skill in painting as well.
Nell is starting a several- year training program in paint- ing at the Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. Knecht said the graduate school does not offer a degree, but it provides some of the best portraiture training in the country.
This is not O’Leary’s first
experience at the Studio Incamminati, she spent two previous summers studying there.
Morgan, meanwhile, wasted no time in moving back to Maryland and opening her own studio.
“Soon after graduating, she moved back to her hometown and rented a local studio space at a local art co-op, and now she is making ends meet teach- ing art lessons and working at a framing shop,” Knecht said.
Morgan’s training is being put to good use, and Knecht said she gets the benefit of networking within the artist community.
