When a dark time
emerged into my life and the only thing I could to do was move on and
continue my education, I opened up the best tool to help me get
started: the internet. The internet proved essential to my
educational career. I was able to take online courses so that I would
be able to work full time while I was pursuing my Associates Degree
at the local community college. I needed its' help once again to find
a way to continue my education. I wanted to follow a path into
something that utilized my artistic talents. In my research, I found
a career path that I never thought of pursuing before. A career path
that doesn't pay much, requires moving far away from my family upon
receiving my BA, but essential for future generations to remember
their culture. Without this field, the Mona Lisa wouldn't be around,
Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco on the Sistine Chapel would
waste away, the Pyramids of Giza would be paved for parking lots, and
the Reclining Buddha in Thailand rust away with the elements. All of
this art and history gone because of the wastefulness of today's
world. I found the contact information on the internet of an art
adviser from Portland State University. The next step was to use this
information to find out how I can become an art conservator.
In my internet
search, I looked back at the classes I took in the past, and find out
what would be able to transfer. The internet allowed me to take
classes online so that I would be able to work full time. With the
money I received from working, I paid for my books and part of the
tuition that I wasn't able to get from financial aid. Paying for
school may have taken longer if the internet didn't allow the
availability in my schedule. When writing papers, I've not only used
the internet to find sources, but how to write better, organize my
time, and just be a better student overall. The internet showed me
how many art classes I've taken, and I came to the conclusion that
art held the fastest route to my BA. I was thinking I would need an
Art Practices degree which involved making a lot of studio art.
Of course, the
internet helped me get started. I needed to talk to the adviser at
the school to ask the questions I couldn't find on the website; how
would continuing my education affect my full-time job? What are
employers of conservators looking for? Is it worth possibly getting a
minor in Chemistry? My adviser looked to the internet to find art
conservator societies, internships, and graduate schools I could go
to after getting my degree at Portland State University. She was able
to advise me to go to graduate school out of the country. She
informed me that I was much closer to obtaining the Art History
degree than the Art Practices degree. Employers of art conservators
also preferred the Art History degree to an Art Practices degree.
Even though she used the internet as a tool to help me build my
career path, she was an expert in knowledge of art careers and found
the search results I needed much faster than if I was completely on
my own.
Working together,
we found my path. I haven't applied for financial aid for this year,
but I would for the Spring term. I still needed one more lower
division art history class as well as taking Chemistry classes. For
the Fall and Winter term, I would be at the community college doing
that, and entering the doors of Portland State University in the
spring.
Before starting
school, I used the internet to apply for scholarships. I looked more
into the graduate schools, and what GPA they required, and what
classes I would need to take. The internet helped me realize how hard
I really need to work. How ready I feel. I saw pictures of famous
works of art, videos of art conservators at work on the other side of
the country. I can't imagine the internet comparing to the real
experience of seeing works like that of Raphael firsthand, and being
able to touch it with my own hands and using my knowledge to defy
time, pollution, and other forces that seek to destroy such a work of
human hands. Seeing the videos gave me an idea, and since I wasn't
seeing this work firsthand, I now longed to even more.
Lastly, the
internet showed me how much the world really needs
art conservators. The National Trust of Australia is finding the
ancient aboriginal rock art of the Barrup Peninsula fading away due
to dangerous emissions. Pollution brought about by a Dixie-cup
culture where everything is created only to be thrown away after its'
been used is polluting our planet and bulldozing the world's combined
cultural heritage.
Thanks to the
internet, I had what I needed to start following my dreams. The
internet helped me in my research as a student in the past, and it
helped me research my desires for the future. I had the contact
information of the people to help me, make connections, and work to
acquire the additional funding I'll need. Most importantly, my
forerunners in the world of art conservation gave me a glimpse
through their videos of what it meant to be a part of this way of
life. Through the internet, I could see firsthand where my career
path would lead. I saw what it meant to preserve one's heritage by
preserving beautiful works of art made by human hands. I found
article after article about pollution and a throw-away society
repeatedly thrusts its' knife into the heart of the history and
culture of great nations. The heart of civilization is art, and the
art conservator is the doctor that keeps it beating through time.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational
Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Archivists, Curators, and
Museum Workers. Web. (visited July 22, 2014).
Friesen, Hannah. Preserving the Past Behind the Present: The Science
Behind Art Conservation. USCience Review. University of Southern
California. 8 February 2012. Web. (visited 22 July 2014).
The Graduate College at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Making Connections.
Web. (visited 22 July 2014).
The National Trust of Australia. The
Dampier Rock Art Precinct. 2006.
Web. (visited 27 July 2014).
