Spring 2019: Francisco Wang Yu

Over summer break, I participated in a summer program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California. FIDM’s Signature Summer Program Visual Art and Design was a 12-day immersive experience with workshops that included photography, photo editing, fashion styling, logo development, interior design, and more. 

Doing this program was an intense but eye-opening experience. Not only did I learn technical skills such as using shortcuts in Adobe Creative Cloud programs, but I also learned about the visual design industry itself. All of my teachers were experts who worked in the creative industry: photographers, movie directors, editors, fashion stylists, art historians, graphic designers, etc. I enjoyed the fact that they were real people who worked in the field and not just professors. I particularly liked listening to the fashion stylist who shared his stories working with celebrities like Tracee Ellis Ross. My favorite class was the Digital Design class. I created a logo inspired by my family name for my hypothetical athletic wear brand. In other courses, I also learned how to improve our photography composition, design a board game, style a red carpet look, and design a room. 

Moreover, I also visited two incredible museums: The Broad and The Getty. I saw works from Andy Warhol, Robert Longo, Basquiat, and many other well-known artists. I got incredibly excited to see that there was also a Kara Walker exhibition at The Broad since some of her works were also showcased at the Rollins Cornell Fine Arts Museum. I saw many works that I studied in Dr. Ryan’s class (like Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis), and seeing them in real life was mind-blowing. 

All in all, doing FIDM’s summer program was an enlightening experience. As an art history and studio art double minor, I am delighted that I had the opportunity to take these type of classes outside of Rollins. Just being in Los Angeles was a massive change of creative scenery from Orlando. Thanks to the Art Department at Rollins, I was able to expand my artistic passions through this program even further as I aspire to pursue a career in the creative field.