Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Quijano
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always been interested in art, even as a small child. I have fond memories of coloring and crafting with my dad growing up. My parents always fostered my love for creativity, which was a definite boost to pursuing a career that would make me happy.
I went to college right after high school and have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in three-dimensional art. As I was working through my undergraduate degree, I was interested in teaching in higher education, so I knew that I would need a master’s degree to be able to achieve that. I continued to graduate school, where I focused on sculpture and received my Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. From there, I just started applying to anything and everything that was related to my field of study. I taught sculpture for a year as a sabbatical replacement and then ended up back where I started when a Studio Technician position opened up. Currently, I’m working to increase my teaching again because I’ve haven’t fully reached my ultimate goal yet despite being out of grad school for quite awhile.
As far as developing my body of work, it takes a lot of perseverance because I have to make time to create. Daily life and a full time job (plus a couple of part time teaching responsibilities) doesn’t leave a lot of time to create; when I make the time, it’s valued and not taken for granted. When I apply to exhibitions or opportunities, I try to apply to as many as I can, even if it’s just one every other month or an online exhibition as a way to try to stay active in the art world.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, the road has not been a smooth one by any means. Just choosing to go into the arts is a challenging thing because you are putting something that is very personal and special to you out to be judged and critiqued.
Personally, graduate school was hard because of the environment that I was in; there were struggles and obstacles that really shouldn’t have been there. Once you leave graduate school, you lose the time (and often space) to create.
There have also been other challenges outside of just creating and developing the work that I wouldn’t change for anything. I’m married and have three children, so there are numerous responsibilities that come with the lifestyle that I have chosen that take time away from just being able to create.
All in all, the biggest thing that I’ve learned from all of these challenges and obstacles is that sometimes, you just have to create something. Whether its a sketch or a refresh of an old piece that you no longer have room to store, the little things can result in a spark of creativity and the challenges helped me to appreciate the times that I am able to create so much more.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wear many hats in my professional life as I am not a full-time artist. I work at a university as the Studio Technician for the Department of Art and Art History. With this role, I have a number of tasks and responsibilities that aren’t really associated with a practicing artist. For example, I handle a variety of inventories covering tools, chemicals, supplies, and facilitate various safety trainings to ensure that our students have a safe environment to create and find their own paths in the art world. As a staff member at a university, this does have a lot of hardships, but the students that I get to meet and assist from time to time make it much more enjoyable.
I also teach at a couple different age levels throughout the year, which really brings the most joy even though it is a lot of work. Getting to see someone discover a new tool, process, or even piece of artwork is so much fun; students also provide challenges (sometimes in a good way) as they are learning and making their own discoveries. It really is true that you can often learn just as much (if not more) from your students as they do from you.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t really think of where I’ve gotten in my life and career as luck, but as blessings. I fully believe that certain challenges can make you stronger, and I feel blessed to have been able to overcome my personal challenges and be able to be more appreciative of what I have and what I am able to do. As a believer, the challenges are a way for me to overcome an obstacle that will provide me with a skill I will need later on at some point along God’s plan for me. I believe that there is a purpose to everything and that the timing of certain things was not just happenstance. I’ve had some struggles to go through and continue to have struggles every day as I navigate the challenges of working in higher education. Despite all of this, my faith keeps me grounded and reminds me of the real reason that I am where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aliciaconwayquijano.com
- Instagram: @alicia.quijano.art
Image Credits
All image were taken by the artist.
