This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
玛丽莎·卡梅隆（媒体艺术，2012） grew up in a family where creativity accompanied every decision. 她的钢琴家父亲和姨妈之间, 著名作家, 玛丽莎注定要从事艺术. 玛丽莎在媒体艺术和戏剧之间徘徊，直到2009年开始了她在学院的旅程. After a discussion with school administrators and family, she decided to pursue 写作 and 媒体艺术, 她在哪里找到了家. 现在是作家, 诗人, 导演, 摩根大通的平面设计师, 玛丽莎体现了忙碌的艺术家心态. Read below to hear about her time at The Academy, 她的艺术生涯, and learning to be creative with your body through rugby.
When’s the last time you visited The Academy?
我大学毕业后的第一份重要工作, I was working in the Willis Tower at a marketing firm, then switched to an ad agency in the Hancock Building. I jumped from one Chicago-shaped thing to another, and every day I would pass The Academy on my way to work. 我不记得上次来是什么时候了，但我总是威胁说要进去打个招呼. At some point, I went to a 媒体艺术 Senior Show, but I forgot when. 我记得登录过程感觉很奇怪，因为我必须获得一个名牌.
你的奥斯卡故事怎么样?
It’s interesting because I grew up in an artsy-fartsy family. 除了我，我们家的人都弹钢琴，所以我做其他事情都有点怪. 我是在剧院里长大的，实际上我参加了戏剧和写作项目的试镜（媒体艺术）. 我两个都选了, so Patera and Pam Jordan told me to pick one, 看看感觉如何, 一个学期后我们会再来. 我选了写作系. As an incoming student, they ask you to submit poems, short stories, etc. 但在我的试镜中，我在截止日期前不久才创作了很多这样的作品. 我成长在一个艺术家庭, you don’t second-guess yourself as much as you would in another life. 我非常荣幸，也非常感激我的父母重视创造力. Mr. Patera’s teaching philosophy is actually based off my aunt’s book – 艺术家之路. The way that she looks at life permeates through my whole family. 我在小学的时候是个古怪的孩子，所以学院是适合我的地方. 我是那种在课间休息时看书的孩子，我在学校的很多朋友也是这种类型的孩子. 我们有一个安全地生长的地方.
这是你给学校留下的遗产?
甚至在贾斯汀·特朗特把录音棚捐给音乐系之前, the school reminded me of my house growing up. 我们的地下室有一个录音室, 所以很多最早的媒体艺术电影配乐都是在我童年的房子里录制的, with my dad engineering and my mom coaching the vocal performances. 这真的很特别，因为这是许多音乐专业的学生第一次戴上耳机，听到自己唱歌或演奏. My family has always tried to donate their time to support other artists. 所以我们把音乐系的孩子叫来了, 低音, 小号, 凡是你能想到的, my dad even put a wawa pedal on a cello for the rock song. We were on a deadline for the 媒体艺术 show, so everyone slept over to record more the next day, 而我的父亲混合和掌握轨道到深夜-这是我成长生活的正常延伸. 知道他们现在在学院提供了一个专业的录音室录音环境, now all of them can have a taste of what I had as a kid, 它真的温暖了我的心.
至于媒体艺术“大电影”项目, now I believe they are on less of a time crunch, 剧本写作是在大三，电影的制作是在整个大四. The school grew and changed just like we did. 在一天结束的时候, 通过朋友找到一个艺术家庭是我一直想要的, 但从没想过我会得到. 生活中很少会有这样一个愿望清单，并且能够检查这些事情, 但你在学院有机会.
你的艺术背景是什么?
I did musical theatre for 13 years and considered pursuing that in college, 甚至还想到了舞台管理. The Academy was just the right place for someone like me. 我在那里找到了自己的声音，可以开玩笑了. 我想我也是那种比别人都早到学校的孩子. Ms. 戈尔德会让我进去，然后说：“你不应该这么早到的.“但我会在早上7点到达那里.m. 每天在媒体艺术实验室多花一个半小时——思考, 写作, 在黑板上乱画, 谁知道? The Academy was the perfect world to explore my interests.
你现在的生活怎么样?
很多人都带着情感包袱从高中毕业，如果我不提这一点，那就是我的疏忽. [Marissa described a challenging situation with a teacher.] I became very disillusioned with 写作 by the time I got to college. I was told by that teacher to look for a conservatory, 但我想试着去一所CTA可以进入的有吉祥物的学校. 洛约拉大学是一个完美的选择, 因为学校里有一些我最喜欢的老师，而且离我家很近. 我一直都知道，无论走到哪里，我都会创作艺术，所以去洛约拉大学对我来说是有意义的. 另外，当我上大学的时候，我已经是密歇根州三橡树市的一位诗人和桂冠诗人了. 我最终学会的技能是在学院学习photoshop的这些年. 所以我最终选择了平面设计. 如果说戏剧是我的第一爱好，写作是第二爱好，那么设计就是我的第三爱好. It took me a very long time to come back to 写作 “just for me”. Ultimately, my time at The Academy was really a gift.
What’s one of your favorite memories from The Academy?
We had a teacher who had these incredible sayings. Quick-witted and funny, he was just the best. 一次, 他在批评我们的作业，并对全班说：“你们必须像考虑早餐一样考虑你们的职业道德——鸡肉也在其中。, 但是猪却犯了罪.除了我的朋友山姆（他的主打色是米色和家得宝的橙色），谁也没有, 一个真正的视觉艺术孩子), 我笑了, but it’s those little moments that stick with me. 当我回忆起那些时光时，高中时代所有的戏剧和噩梦都被冲走了. 我想说，我在学院的时光充满了困难和个人成长，我不会用任何东西来交换.
What’s something new you’ve done since your time at the school?
我从大学开始打橄榄球. 我刚结束一段感情，大部分时间都呆在宿舍里. My mom told me to “find the other Jews” and my dad said “pick a sport”, 所以我去了组织博览会，经过了编织桌和其他所有的俱乐部. 然后我看到了一个像足球的东西. 因为我总是擅长扔足球和摔跤我的表兄妹，我想“为什么不呢?“我一出现，他们就成了我的家人.
Everywhere I go, I try to offer my artistic skills to people. So I would offer to make recruitment flyers and redo our 10-year-old logo. My dad had a similar philosophy about playing the piano. He thought “how do you make money doing something you love?” People struggle balancing money and passion, and the world isn’t really set up for you to succeed at both. 我爸爸总是说要让自己不可或缺，我认为你可以在任何艺术形式中做到这一点. You can also have an artistic life without making money doing it. It goes back to my aunt’s philosophy that everyone is creative. Creativity is a spiritual act; it’s a way of connecting with your fellow humans. I found that playing rugby is a way of being creative with my body.
What’s an important lesson engrained from The Academy?
我最喜欢参观学院的时间是在周五或周四的研讨会期间. I was around when we invented “snapping” and “anti-snapping”, 当你同意某人的意见时就会显示出来. 它更像是一种速记，这样人们就不必再重复同样的评论了. Alex, I believe, was the one who coined the “anti-snap”. 就像把假发抢走了一样. So you learned things like not everyone’s comments are golden. You don’t need to internalize all the feedback. 你会成为一个非常坚强的人. 还有一个笑话，如果你参加了你的第一个媒体艺术研讨会，并且没有哭出来, 你做错了什么. There are certain parts where I’m like “that’s a little much”, 但在一天结束的时候, what rings true is that you’re supposed to care about your work. 这就是为什么（那些工作坊如此艰难）. 我只是想让媒体艺术界的每个人都知道，我知道你的痛苦，但这是值得的. You’re a more knowledgeable person because of it, 不仅仅是你的艺术形式，你还将获得带着意图度过每一天的能力. 我认为当你写一首诗或完成一份大发彩票平台“谁知道什么”的报告时，你可以这样做. 你可以带着意图和目的处理事情，并根据自己的选择接受反馈.
What was something you struggled with at The Academy?
I definitely have a 媒体艺术 Brain; I definitely read Aristotle’s 诗学 大一的时候，尽管我有诵读困难，那是最痛苦的一段时间. What’s funny is that I think I got C’s on all the quizzes, because I just couldn’t internalize it on my own. But all of the tests and exams at the end of the semester, I would ace those. I comprehended the subjects but I couldn’t digest the material. People are learning to give themselves grace and be easier on themselves. It’s especially hard to do that in high school. I think my classmate was known for never giving a positive comment. 那位老师（和玛丽莎相处得很不好）教给我的知识是我用世界也换不掉的. 他们对我的同学说：“来吧. What’s working well and what’s not working well? 你必须两者都说.” Not taking things too personally was a big thing. 我不能靠写小说来救我的命. I could write 15-20 pages and only a paragraph would be any good. I was in the time period where that was acknowledged and that was ok. 这是认识到你的优势，而不是完全贬低你的艺术形式. There’s an inherent open-mindedness you end up leaving The Academy with. I think The Academy will show you what that looks like. In a truly artistic safe space, that’s something that will always be there.