Lynn Palewicz is Foundation Chair at Moore College of Art & Design. She has an MFA from Yale School of Art, and both an MAT and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Palewicz describes her work as a combination of photography, sculpture and drawing as a way to explore different approaches to self-portraiture: the self as subject, the self as material and the self as creative impulse. She talked with Veronica Scarpellino, associate director of the Locks Career Center at Moore.
Scarpellino: Did you hold any part-time jobs (arts-related or otherwise) when you were in your first year of college? If so, what was your job and where?
Palewicz: I was very fortunate to be offered a position as a classroom assistant for faculty teaching in the Young People’s Studio. This was a Saturday curriculum, offered through my college (MICA), for students K-12. During my first year, I assisted in a second-grade classroom helping with a sculpture class.
S: What was your first post-college position? Did it relate to your major/minor?
P: I was hired to teach photography and the general elective art class at a Maryland high school in Anne Arundel County. It was my first post-college position and was directly related to my major as I had received an undergraduate degree in General Fine Arts and a master’s degree in Art Education. My college offered a 4+1 track that allowed students to graduate with both a BFA and an MAT.
S: Do you have any interesting stories to share about overcoming fear as they relate to your first jobs?
P: I had a lot of fears about teaching high school. I was mostly afraid that I would not be able to manage the classroom—that students would act-out or disrupt the lesson and that I would not be able to regain control of the classroom. To my horror, this was true for the first few months of school, but only in relation to the art course that was offered as a general elective at the high school (ART I). The upper level art classes were an absolute joy.
Sometime in mid-January, I was accepted into the MFA graduate program at Yale University, School of Art. I was so excited to start a new chapter in my life, and glad that I would not have to “deal” with the behavior problems that had become an epidemic in ART I. To my great surprise, once I knew that my days teaching this class were numbered, the behavior problems magically disappeared. Somehow, I was able to laugh with the misbehaving students and to redirect their attention back to their work. Me and my unruly ART I students seemed to have reached a place where we could co-exist and respect each other’s developmental stages—my stage (ingenue art teacher) and their stage (adolescence). This was the moment that I realized that my poor reactions to their misbehavior was only exacerbating the problem. Once I calmed down, they calmed down.
S: Many people describe their careers as a zig-zag, or a constant reevaluation of priorities and goals as they discover their true strengths and what they want to do for their career, and some misfires (bad fits). Did you know what you wanted to do when you graduated, and what surprising zig-zag did you take, if any?
P: I made a decision to pursue a degree in art education before I had any excitement in my studio (about my own work). When I hit junior year of my undergraduate degree, I suddenly became very invested in drawing. This made me rethink my ultimate career goal as a K-12 art teacher. I started to wonder if I might be a better fit for teaching at the college level. This led to about seven years of zig-zagging and taking major risks with my career. Some of those risks included leaving two great high school teaching positions, deciding to get an MFA, and moving to NYC.
S: What previously unrecognized strength(s) did you discover in your first post-college job that proved to be an asset to you?
P: I learned that my creativity and resourcefulness as an artist could translate to my job as an art educator. I excelled and genuinely enjoyed developing exciting projects and learning experiences for my students. Previously, I had worried that I would run out of lesson ideas and that my students would grow bored of the projects. Fortunately, it seemed that the more lesson ideas I developed, the easier it was for me to develop new projects and lesson ideas.
S: What advice would you give your 18-year-old self about a career?
• Pay attention to what you enjoy doing and talk to people in your field about the challenges they faced as they pursued similar paths.
• When you hit an obstacle in your career, in your education, or in your job, try to see that obstacle as an opportunity. Do not see it as proof that you are not a good fit for your career path. Instead, try to improve your outlook and skills in that area so that the next time you hit the same obstacle, you will be better prepared.
• Remember that when you interview for anything (a job, a higher degree, etc.) that you should “e yourself. The person interviewing you is not looking for the smartest, most-talented, most-creative, most-skilled person for the opportunity. The person interviewing you is looking for the best fit for their company, their school, their firm, etc. You will not do anyone (including yourself) any favors by trying to be what you think they want to see.
