Surrounded by my collages at the opening of “Stunt Show” at the Dayton Visual Art Center in June 2016.

After my last post about my grand Chicago adventure on crutches I realized I never formally introduced myself. I’m Colleen McCulla, the new Graduate Ambassador for the Interdisciplinary Book and Paper MFA Program. I’m a first year MFA student and I just moved to Chicago in September. Everything is new to me and I’m excited to get to share this fresh start with all of you. I received my BFA in Fibers and Material Studies from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2007. In my current body of work I’ve been creating one handmade collage everyday since 2012 and sharing them each on social media. When I’m not collaging I’m usually thinking about pizza or food in general, but let’s be honest mainly pizza. I’m also a big fan of scarves, cooking, improv, yoga, and chocolate.

My Decade Off

Over the past month, as I transition back into academia, I’ve found myself reflecting on how I got here. The math wizards among us may have noticed in my bio above that I completed my BFA almost a decade(!) ago. For real. The past 9 years have flown by and I’m much wiser for them. I’ve learned that living a creative life is often about balance and change. After a couple years off I felt like I’d never get into grad school or be able to write a paper again. In the back of my mind I always knew I wanted to pursue an MFA but the timing never felt right. Every fall as I saw kids heading back to school I’d think about grad school again and I began to feel like my time was running out. Here are three of the biggest reasons I decided to take the leap.

Looking up at an ever changing sky in downtown Chicago

Growth

Conscious growth is so important when pursuing a creative and unconventional path. Life is always changing so its inevitable that we will grow but to consciously grow means actively participating in whatever happens. I decided it was time to take a step back and look at my life, refocus after a crazy few years, and then figure out what I was going to do next. Then commit to actually doing it. There is something to be said for a complete and utter life change. A change that knocks the wind out of you and forces you to take a deep breathe again. I decided it was time to knock the wind out of myself and my practice. The energy and creativity in Chicago is the freshest of air.

Community

Basically everyday for the past 4 years I’ve been making work alone in my studio. Occasionally I’d have causal conversations about art or my work, but I never felt a strong sense of community. I felt stuck in a cycle and trapped in a routine at a day job that was heading no where near where I wanted to be. The prospect of developing as an individual artist alongside a group of artists was a really appealing aspect of grad school for me. One reason I love Columbia is because there’s such a unique mix here. There’s a large diverse group of artists on campus while there’s also smaller communities of graduate students and then even smaller groups of peers within each cohort.

Fear

Yes, fear. I’ve found that some of the most rewarding experiences in my life have come from my decision to face something that terrifies me. That’s how I started as an improv comedy performer and it’s what drove me to hip-hop dance classes. The idea of going back to school terrified me because it was the decision to commit to a life and creative practice that was so incredibly different than what I was living. It was the decision to commit to the life I wanted.