I attended Housatonic Community College from 2013 until 2017 in obtaining both my Associate's Degree and my Certificate in Manufacturing.
Here, I will offer a journal of my entire experience attending HCC during my time between 2013-2016 and my overall impression of my art education as a collective whole while in attendance.
I graduated from high school in June 2013 and started to attend HCC in August 2013. My classes at the time consisted of some academic classes and some art classes; most notably, Drawing 1, 2, American Sign Language and many more other classes.
Drawing ll Students, Classroom project
The art professors of this community college are some of the best mentors and educators I have ever encountered during my art journey. They have imparted a lot of great advice, wisdom and support during my time as a growing artist. I appreciate their continual support even after I have received my Associate's Degree and remember taking their classes very fondly. Housatonic Community College has one of the best art collections in this state - dare I say - probably in this nation as a local community college. The professors within this institution possess a genuine care for their art students' overall education and ensuring that each student receives a strong foundational basis of understanding not only the art world as a whole, but also having to delve deeper into unlocking their potential artistic expression through different mediums and genres of art.
The art program that they provide includes enriching lectures that explore the works of art by other famous artists around the world, as well as having to explore the various artistic movements of yesterday's and today's world of the art community. This serves as a way to help impressive art students expand their knowledge of various artists and arts in order to further their expansion on their own art projects and assignments. Students within each class are thoroughly challenged and pushed to reach beyond their limits in order to build a strong, striking portfolio and means of artistic expression.
I have been able to make some memorable connections with other fellow artists along the way, as well as be able to meet some very impressive professional artists, such as the late Chuck Close.
Seeing his works in person and up close has been one of the most thrilling experiences I have ever had.
Not to mention, I had the incredible honor of meeting the man and legend himself, Chuck Close. Never have I been so star-struck to meet such a talented person in my life.
This has been one of the many great experiences that the art department of Housatonic Community College has to offer.
A brochure of Chuck Close's Exhibition Hosted at HCC
Towards the end of my time at HCC, I also participated in some great events that the art department hosted. Most memorably, I was able to participate in the 2015 Sidewalk Chalk Festival contest and won first place.
This even landed me in the Bridgeport's Daily View article, Connecticut Post, Certificate of Award and a letter from Connecticut State Senator Christopher S. Murphy!
It was absolutely a surreal experience as I didn't anticipate this much recognition for a fun chalk portrait.
Truly, I had the most fun creating this outdoor artwork, and had a blast being able to collaborate with my fellow art peers during the festival event.
Newspaper clipping from Connecticut Post
On the same day, I also had some of my works at the Housatonic Student Exhibition. One of my most notable works at the time was having completed a 24x36 30,000 perler bead portrait for the show. It took a little over a month to complete. The point of the portrait was to challenge myself with a different and creative way to create portraiture, as I wanted to demonstrate that any kind of material can be used to create distinctive artwork.
My method was really simple: simply use a variety of different colored perler beads and use tacky glue to adhere each bead next to each other. As tedious as the process may have been, this kind of creation is really relaxing on the mind. I was really proud to have remained committed to this big project. I had the help of my family and friends to conquer this. Additionally, I was able to use this method for the creation of other kinds of portraits later on in my artistic journey.
After having completed my Associate's Degree in Fine Arts, I readmitted myself into the 2016-2017 Advanced Manufacturing program. This was a 10-month intense program that basically provided the foundation of all things manufacturing. I did this in the hopes of gaining secure employment within the manufacturing field while being able to pursue my art on the side. Needless to say, it had its drawbacks; most of which I may talk about in an entirely separate blog post.
Although my time at HCC was short, it was extremely enriching and an important part of my life.
Sasha Cubero at the Housatonic Student Exhibition 2015