Pursuing Art in Grad School at UCLA - Personal Statement Example

? Personal ment for Pursuing Art in Grad School at UCLA Word Count 000 A Love For All Things Artistic: My Response to Prompt I strongly believe that there is no limit to the amount of education someone can or should attain. We should continually be lifelong learners. But, for me, attending graduate school in order to study art is also a lifelong dream. Pursuing a higher degree in the field of art is my goal, based on my artistic ability, my passion for art, and my interest in investing in my plans for incorporating my knowledge about art into my future. Since an early age, my parents instilled in me a love for art and a respect for various artistic disciplines. I attended painting and drawing classes every week since 7 years of age until 15 years of age. I came to the U.S. from Taiwan at a young age. I fully credit my parents with having given me the tools to succeed in the art world in the U.S. My parents passed on to me their interest in collecting paintings of a wide variety. Therefore, we have an art gallery at home full of famous paintings from both Taiwan and China. My parents consistently took myself and my siblings to art galleries, and is still one of our favorite family activities when we get together. Regarding my own personal interest in art, I’ve participated in numerous painting and drawing contests. When I moved to the United States for high school, I attended a creative and performing arts school in San Diego and continued working on my artistic talent. After high school, I developed my other interests in design. I chose to work on fashion design. Fashion is art to me. I wanted to pursue art on a different level, however. After graduating from college, I wanted to have more formal higher education experience focused not just on art as it is studied in traditional schools, but also study art at another level at UCLA. My purpose in pursuing this graduate degree in art at UCLA is undergirded by the fact that I know UCLA is an excellent school with a stellar reputation in this field. UCLA also has respect for diversity in its student body, which was important to me in selecting a grad school program. The UCLA faculty is very experienced and knowledgeable in several aspects of the art world, which was also another key factor in deciding to apply here. I sincerely feel that attending UCLA will help me become a better artist. My ultimate goals in obtaining a graduate degree in art are to: 1) own my own gallery; 2) share my art with the public at large; and 3) work with art museums and/or galleries in order to restore and preserve masterpieces for posterity, so our children and grandchildren will still be able to appreciate creative pieces from master artists. Obtaining a graduate degree in art at UCLA would not only serve to bolster my experience and interest in art, but would also help provide a schema for how to realize my dreams. Wanting to become well-known in the art world, I believe this degree would give me instant credibility that would signify my expertise in not only dealing with art but creating it. I thank you for reading and for your thoughtful consideration of my application in light of the above-stated comments. Personal Accomplishments, Community Pride: A Response to Prompt #2 I have accomplished many personal achievements in my lifetime, but I consider many of these achievements as exemplars for my community (including my family). Having grown up as an immigrant, I realize the incredible opportunities that coming to America gave me and my family. I will be forever grateful for those. Undertaking this graduate degree in art from UCLA, therefore, is not only a source of personal accomplishment but a symbol of community pride for everyone I know and love that contributes to my culture—both in the U.S. and in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, I won the first-place award for the Taiwan Shei-Pa National Park’s official drawing contest when I was only an 11-year-old elementary school student—chosen from all the student contestants in all of Taiwan. When I came to attend high school in the U.S., my art was selected to be displayed in the school’s graduation art show. In addition, I’ve also participated in a breast cancer fundraising fashion show in San Diego in October of 2012, helping with the organization’s implementation of the show. I could give numerous other examples of my involvement with art, but I believe it will suffice to say that my love for art has been ably demonstrated. As one can see, my experience in having participated in the art world at large is evident, having learnt many different types of painting techniques, as well as pragmatic and theoretical design strategies. I believe that art has the power to change people, to empower people, and to enlighten people. Art is one of the elements of my life that has enhanced my quality of life and is a gift that I would like to share with the world—not only by opening up my own gallery someday, but also by keeping in mind the fact that I would like to offer restorative assistance to other galleries and museums. I really believe that extending my help towards galleries and museums that are in desperate need of restorative services would realize that their pieces would have a welcome home wherever I would be—in order to preserve the artwork of the past for future generations of our children. I feel that my foray into the art world has bolstered my interest in pursuing this graduate degree in art from UCLA. I feel that my ability to obtain the degree will not only be a great source of personal accomplishment and validation for myself, but also a wonderful fount of communal pride that I share with my family and loved ones who would like me to honor both my Taiwanese roots while at the same time appreciating my new heritage as a contributor to the art world in the United States. Read More