While undergraduate degrees are an essential part of finding a career, it is real-world training which makes a college graduate truly marketable on a global stage. Students often need to boast relevant, professional experience on their resumes before they ever graduate.
For art students this issue can be especially crucial, but the Art Student Union is giving art undergrads a reason to relax. The Art Student Union is a truly comprehensive organization as it is comprised of 11 different art clubs at Georgia State, ranging from the Textiles Artists Guild to the Edgewood Sculpture Forum to the Drawing and Painting Club.
Active for 16 years, the ASU was formed to give students the chance to create their own galleries and manage their own shows. Students are often excluded or not even considered for entry in professional galleries, so the ASU provides students with a number of different opportunities to not only showcase and sell their art, but gain a foothold in the international art community.
“We have several huge events every year where students can submit work, organize and curate, install their show, staff it, get all their representatives, sell their work, from start to finish they’re completely involved in every aspect of a professional exhibition,” explains ASU president Candice Greathouse.
From the Edgewood Sculpture Forum’s Annual Iron Pour to the internationally renowned Art Basel in Miami, the ASU allows students to gain an international presence.
Every year, the ASU hosts numerous symposiums, conferences and guest lecturers which provide its members with invaluable access to insider knowledge which they can carry into future careers.
Not only is membership in ASU a resume builder, but it is a necessity, according to Greathouse.
“Students aren’t often invited to be into shows; it’s student organized shows which give them the opportunity to present their work,” she said.
Vice President Christopher Langley said he believes that “saturation is one thing that’s problematic, there are so many scrambling for what small spaces that are presented.”
Another asset of joining an art community is access to the minds of fellow students who can collaborate on projects and ideas to display to a larger audience.
“All of the sciences, all are the arts, all these different disciplines, they need each other. We all need to play off each other’s minds. People play off each other and they foster new ideas. The community helps keeps them strong, give them a better name,”Langley said.
Despite the abundant opportunities the ASU has been able to offer its members, attaining funds from Georgia State has been a continuous struggle.
Art is the same way as it is in other institutions, it sits at one of the lower rungs, the give back is not as obvious; we’re not curing cancer,” Christopher said.
Greathouse said she faces similar problems.
“While I think the arts are equally relevant in sustaining a cultural environment, they might seem less pressing [to Georgia State],” she said.
The Art Student Union continues to engage its members in Atlanta’s thriving arts and humanities community. The 42nd Spring Inman Park Festival is the next opportunity for students to expose their art and gain customers without even needing a bachelor’s degree.
Despite this ongoing battle for relevance, Greathouse remains hopeful.
“We’ve been doing really well, we can stretch our dollars, we’re always fighting for more, and we can hold our own in budget meetings,”
