Living on Central Campus has it perks. Yes, it means waking up at 8:59am and still making it to 9am class ten minutes later. It means short walks to the library and quick jaunts downtown, where it’s almost impossible to settle on one good place to eat. Living on Central makes running errands a lot easier, but perhaps Central Campus students are biased when talking about the ever so illusive “North” Campus.

I admit, for a while I was North weary.  I fed into the social stigma attached to living on North by believing rumors about “depressingly boxy rooms” and “crummy dining halls”-all surrounded by a sea of nothingness. Given the chance to visit my Bursley/Baites friends, whose North antics only reinforced these speculations, I often declined the invitation.

Looking back, I imagine I grew accustom to my life on Central and simply couldn’t stand the thought of venturing from my bubble. I avoided North at all costs in hopes of saving myself long waits at the bus stop and getting lost. A semester later, realizing the “Nothing on North” myth to be false, I came to the conclusion that the “other” University Campus holds gems of its own.

The campus houses creative minds alike. The School of Art & Design, Architecture + Urban Planning, Music, Theater, & Dance, and the School of engineering produce artists and lofty works of art, music, acting, dance, and ingenuity. Great artwork, no matter the medium, takes people by surprise. To avoid recycled ideas, University students raise the bar take their creations to new heights, literally.

A mystery student recreated a scene from Disney’s “UP” Monday. Attached to the pinnacle of the North Bell Tower were thousands of multicolored balloons faceted together with string. It was every kid’s childhood dream come true.

Yesterday was one of those crazy days where everything was due: seventeen pages of writing for a Creative Writing portfolio, an exam in The History of Photography, and after being locked away in the Bursley basement of the Living Arts room for a four hour critique, I scurried to catch a bus back to Central. Walking to the stop, I noted a giant bundle of balloons from the corner of my eye. All I could think was “what on earth is that?” With my camera in hand, I ventured off the beaten path for a closer look. Drawn to the bright colors and pure size of the installation, all I could do was look UP.

Getting lost in the hustle and bustle of college life is inevitable. It’s easy to forget the importance of taking notice of life’s little joys and discovering new places. Beauty comes in unexpected packages and at unexpected times. Mystery artist, I’ll call them “Mr. or Mrs. Fredricksen,” delivered an unforgettable gift. Whether the project is a random act of kindness or deliberate, the project colored what would have otherwise been an ugly day. Like North Campus, life can be understated and unappreciated. I encourage readers, especially those who’ve never been, to make the journey and see North for themselves. The so-called abyss unexpectedly taught me to appreciate the little things in life. I’d hate to burst anyone’s bubble but FYI, these balloons prove North to be one giant thumbs UP.

Using the prompt symmetry, I drafted an idea to find uniqueness in sameness. I sought everyday, symmetrical spaces in hopes of proving character exists in monotony. My search ended when I discovered my living space provided the ideal subject.

Residence halls are boxes that contain hundreds of cell-like spaces, each casted from a parent mold. The dorm experience enables residents to reconstruct an empty, symmetrical space by filling the off-white walls and blank spaces with personal belongings. Every room holds individual possessions, making an ordinary space unique. Hundreds of students living on campus reside in one, giant shell.

North, East, South, and West Quad are divided into compartments, forcing strangers to co-habitate with each other. Roommates partition the room to create a functional living space that best reflects their personality and lifestyle. Subjecting oneself to living in a shared space, where private becomes public, is uninviting. Thanks to the residents who opened their doors to my camera and me, I documented a small portion of the mass material contained within the Quads. Occasionally there is a repeated object, like a shiny Happy Birthday banner, but there’s a dominant contrast of homogenous boxes-seemingly identical- and the process of differentiation, which is brought about through the introduction of student’s personal belongings, both from home as well as the standard college supply store.

The format of the quad camera mimics the fixed structure of the dorms. The print is symmetrical, however each frame is unique. Each print contains four images that best represent the photographed room owners. The uniqueness of each photograph is enhanced by the snapshot aesthetic, which guarantees an original shot with each advancement of the shutter. Toy cameras, which are boxy themselves, are fun to experiment with. They provide a beautiful quality to the print and incorporate an element of surprise, a common theme of dorm living. Never knowing what you may find within the dorms, The Quad Project consists of familiar and estranging images that uncover dorm culture. The project fuses bright colors and faded tones. The repeated pattern reflects the continuous recirculation of tenants and belongings within the building.  Unlike the spaces, the images are static and frozen in time.

The original goal of The Quad Project was to understand the word symmetrical in an unexpected way, to showcase differentiation in regularity, but the medium of photography preserved the essence of the dorms and the individuals it houses. In creating The Quad Project, I hope to keep the spaces and memories each room holds alive. Symmetry can be viewed from multiple perspectives; however, symmetry looked through a personal lens captures balanced proportions, a state of invariance, and the property of sameness in a new light.

*The Final Project is printed on 4 x 4ft poster paper (I plan to hang it in my dorm room next year appropriately enough). Check out The Quad Project and dozens more final CP projects in person  at the Creative Process Exhibition, Monday April 25th from  5-7pm, at the School of Art and Design.

“Who’s that?” I asked.  My friend tried as hard as she could to contain her excitement, “he was the lead in HAIR the musical! and he’s coming next week to perform!”

“Oh,” I responded. I may not have  sounded as excited as my other two friends, who have somewhat obsessive personalities when it comes to broadway musical stars, but I was still interested in seeing what the performance would be like.

I had never really taken interest in broadway musical soundtracks.  It just wasn’t my genre.  While I’ve enjoyed every musical production I’ve seen, I’ve never really gone on to listen to the music of the show outside of the theater atmosphere, maybe because I cannot seem to separate the songs from the plot that plays out on stage.  So when I heard Gavin Creel was a broadway star, I imagined him screaming out high-energy show tunes on a stage by himself.  This didn’t seem fitting for the Kerrytown Concerthouse.

Much to my surprise, however, I was very wrong about Gavin Creel and the nature of his performance.  Graduate of the UM Musical Theater school, Gavin Creel has gone on to do much more than sing show tunes.  Apart from being a broadway star, he is a singer, songwriter, gay rights activist, and founder of the nonprofit, Broadway Impact, not to mention Tony nominee.  The concert served as a preview of songs from his new album, and as a fundraiser for Broadway Impact, which unites members of the Broadway community to fight for marriage equality.

Happy to return to his alma mater, Creel jumped up on stage, and acknowledged the many familiar faces that had come to see him: high school friends, voice coaches, professors and fans alike.  Joined by his guitarist and songwriting partner, Robbie Roth, Creel sang a mix of old and new songs, along with a few covers as well.  There was a satisfying, relaxing, acoustic sound that echoed through the walls of the Kerrytown Concerthouse.  The intimate setting made for a perfect, coffee-house type guest performance, without the background noise.  “Can we like dim the lights a little bit?!” Creel asked.  “Relax, sing a long, take a little nap if you’d like,” Creel encouraged.  Most of his new songs are quite melodic and calm, but songs from Creel’s previous album were jumpy and fast, providing for a varied set list.

Creel was very engaging with the audience, and his goofy, energetic self kept people laughing in between almost every song.   The concert, in this sense, felt more like an exclusive, informal listening session, exhibiting raw talent that continued to immerse the crowd in Creel’s carefree singing. Creel also shared with the audience his personal stories and experiences that have served as musical inspiration.  He reflected on his childhood growing up in the midwest, and sang ‘Hot Ohio’, a song about waking up everyday to the sticky, heat of summer as a boy who never stopped dreaming about making the move to the big city.

Concluding with “I Got Life”, a classic tune from Hair, Creel pretended to be ‘Claude’ for the remaining minutes of his concert.  Broadway fans erupted in enthusiasm, and I too for once, felt the need to BE-IN.

“Can I take a picture of your room?” was the underlying question, but of course I worded it differently when asking Markley residents to open their doors to my camera and I.

“My name is Christine. I live down the hall and I’m working on a final project for my Creative Process class. The goal of the project is to illustrate how a symmetrical space is unique. If you are comfortable with it, can I take four photographs that differentiate your room from the other dorms?”

To my surprise, the residents invited me in without hesitation. Their only concern was the room’s untidy state of disarray. After many apologies for the mess, I reassured the residents that the goal wasn’t to embarrass them but to capture close-ups of personal belongings contained within the Quad.

“I know it’s a strange request letting a stranger take snapshots of your living space,” I said.

“No worries. What class did you say this was for again?” they asked politely.

“The Creative Process. It’s a UARTS class.

Amazingly, no one had heard of it but many seemed genuinely interested.

So was I, back in December while backpacking courses for the winter term. I stumbled upon a well-designed flyer with a description of the class. Being an LSA student who’s interested in the arts, the course and I seemed like a perfect match.

The Creative Process is the first interdisciplinary arts course offered in a new category of University courses. The four-credit course is broken into two-week segments, each taught by a different University faculty member. The course represents students and professors from across campus: Stephen Rush, our eccentric main instructor from the School of Music, laid-back Michael Gould who’s also from the School of Music, down to earth Elona Dent from the School of Art and Design, fun-loving Herbert Winful from the College of Engineering, the pensive Gregory Saldana from the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, and the lovely Amy Chavasse from the School of Theatre & Dance.

Each Professor taught a two-week workshop where he or she shared their personal experience and expertise. Students were asked to integrate the skills learned from studio time into their mini project, which was assigned at the beginning of each segment. Free standing structures made from printing paper, Lego robots, wire sea creatures, and lyrical compositions warmed students up for the final project and critique, which will be held on Monday, April 18^th. Until then, Creative Process (CP) students eagerly wait to unveil their artistic creations.

One would imagine the CP professors are equally excited to see the much-anticipated final projects for the first time. After all, the CP staff is more family then faculty. Halfway through the semester, Professor Rush encouraged students “not to worry” (a foreign and unsatisfying concept at The University) about the illusive final project. It’s often said that the best ideas come unexpectedly and patience is key, especially with ambiguous prompts such as “fur, soap stone, and distillation.”

Each student pulled a prompt at random. Stephen Rush describes the prompts as a sort of “genesis” for the final projects.  Ranging in straightforwardness- like symmetrical- to outermost vagueness- like water water every where- the prompts produced a great deal of anxiety and frustration. To ease the edge, students were encouraged to collaborate with one another. “The weirder the better,” Rush laughed infectiously.

The final projects have no limits, other than the artist’s imagination. Students were given the liberty to create something unexpected and unheard of, which was refreshing yet aggravating after years of conditioning to adhere to criteria and objective standards.  The Creative Process helped students to unlearn conventional approaches of thinking. Without any guidelines, Monday’s show will come as a complete shock. “It’s all apart of the creative process,” professor Rush said. Listening to this reply for a “Type A” student like myself poses great difficulty. After much procrastination and self-persuasion not “to worry,” I drafted an idea that enabled me to truly invest myself. “DO NOT BE SHY!  FEAR IS THE ENEMY OF RISK AND CREATIVITY!!!” Rush optimistically worded in a recent email.

Rush is right. What did I have to fear? Looking back on our Monday lectures, I realized I have all the right tools to move forward. I was capable of freethinking and cultivated ingenuity. I regret not taking the opportunity to meditate after 5PM lecture with guru Rush. Perhaps I could have found the same peace of mind I have now. Rush admitted that it’s impossible not to think, but challenged us to try. The past two weeks have been a flurry of studying, writing essays, and perfecting final projects. Maybe I spent too much time on my final project because I’m definitely behind in studying for other subjects, like Art History, but what have those classes taught me? Nothing that compares to the lessons The Creative Process instilled. From the people and professors I’ve met, to the work I’ve produced, I’ve become attached to the class that promotes the fundamental principle of creation: creativity.

Hopefully spectators of Monday’s show will see that it isn’t the final outcome but the steps taken to get there. Creativity plays an essential role in our lives and the way art acts as a dialog in our community. Keeping a routine journal ensured student’s documented their progress throughout the learning experience, but Monday’s exhibition will communicate a comprehensive overview of the larger learning process. Each project will have a back-story. No one simply arrived at his or her final project. It took time, thought, lack of thought, and patience. Students can’t be forced into enjoying their studies. What you put into your work is what you take from it and looking at my project, and I’ve gotten more than I ever imagined.

*The Creative Process Gallery show will open to the public from 5-7PM on April 25^th.