Emerging as Artists

The act of creation takes time, diligence and space. And for young artists, as they begin to understand the virtues of their talents, having room to explore is essential. 

For three Collegiate School Seniors, who were selected to receive funding from the Oates Emerging Artist grant to attend a summer art-intensive course of their choice, finding that creative space proved to be beneficial to their development as both artists and students. Their talents as artists progressed at Collegiate but, when their summer courses began, Cate Riley ’23, Jacob Hunt ’23 and Eva Lareau ’23 began creating in earnest.

Cate elected to travel to New York to study film at the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA), one of the premier visual and performing arts summer camps for young artists. For three weeks, the students in attendance are given the rigorous assignment of creating one film a week. “The camp was challenging,” she says, “but having an itinerary and having a schedule that encourages you to make films helped broaden my horizons and my skill set.”

In the first two movies she made, creative restrictions were imposed, pushing her to find new modes of storytelling. “Our first film was based on the Lumi re brothers, and it could only be one minute long using one continuous shot,” she explains. “And our second film, The Porter, implemented cuts but had to tell a simple story. Only in our third film were we able to combine everything we knew about filmmaking.”

 

Jacob, who used the grant to enroll in a five-day program at the New York Film Academy, began making movies of his own when he found his mom’s old camcorder tucked away in storage during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I had always loved movies, but when I started making my own I realized my interest went deeper than just watching them,” he says. “I became interested in the production of movies and how a story is told.”

When he learned about the Oates Emerging Artist grant, he jumped at the opportunity to continue pursuing his interest. During his time at the New York Film Academy, his passion for filmmaking, once a nebulous hobby, materialized into a tangible career aspiration. “I’ve really started to believe that I can be in this industry in the future,” he says. “My summer program definitely solidified my career in filmmaking.”

Both Jacob and Cate, in their respective programs, learned the ins and outs of the movie-production process. Working on small production teams, they were given equipment such as boom mics and lens filters previously not at their disposal. An understanding of the intricacies of movies blossomed. “The experience of having different roles on a set — like operating the microphones and working as the director — were really valuable to me,” Cate recalls. “Learning about cuts, how you compose your shot and just how important those decisions are in your film helped improve my storytelling.”

When Eva enrolled in VCU’s 2-D Portfolio Development camp this summer, she found a cohort of young artists with passions similar to hers. “The camp I pursued was really fantastic for connections,” she says. “I was able to talk to other artists about their art and their experiences in the arts. It’s really inspiring just to be surrounded by a community of artists.”

Eva’s camp, which focused on the fundamental principles and concepts of drawing and painting through studio instruction and lectures, helped her both refine and expand her techniques as a painter. She was challenged to paint a new piece every day, and in the process those skills made her a better student. “In all the art classes I’ve taken at Collegiate, I’ve known that art makes me a better thinker, mainly because it encourages you to create things and look at things from different angles,” Eva says. “The camp I took at VCU confirmed that for me.”

Artistic skill is a key that gives the artist a unique way of seeing the world, and Collegiate’s Oates Emerging Artist grant is intended to encourage that way of seeing, better preparing them for the future. “Art has made me a more dedicated student, because what it has taught me is that the only way to do well at something is to be passionate about it and really care,” Eva says. “Whether I pursue art or use my skills as an artist in another field, I know that I’ll be prepared.”

Published in the print edition of the 2022 fall Spark magazine, which will begin arriving in mailboxes December 15.