Every year, Choate’s Arts Concentration Program brings together new, aspiring artists to share their passions and cultivate their skills. Since the start of the school year, the PMAC has been bustling with new students busy with innovative projects in a variety of disciplines. Several new members of Arts Con shared their thoughts as they begin their journeys:
Alex Denhart ’20, visual Arts Con: “I thought there would be a lot more guided work, but it’s a lot of free time instead for you to explore your creativity. It was really daunting at first because you don’t have any ideas when someone just tells you to make something. Although there’s a lot of pressure while working with very talented people, it’s also a good thing because they inspire and help me. I think it’s about learning not to compare yourself to others around you and to learn from them instead. In the future, I want to explore bigger concepts in relation to myself and my experiences.”
Derek Ng ’20, visual Arts Con: “Arts Con is a place where I can truly devote myself to being an artist and craft art that I can call my own. The people are so great here, and we are like a tightly-knit family.”
Matt Lee ’20, visual Arts Con: “The whole process of making a movie takes a long time, and I hope that having two hours every day to work in Arts Con will be super helpful. I think being surrounded by other artists will inspire me to make art. I’m also trying to branch out from making just movies, and I’ve been getting into photography and mixed media. I hope Arts Con will give me the opportunity, materials, and guidance to do that. Making movies isn’t a traditional art form and is new to Arts Con. There isn’t a lot of previous knowledge to guide me, and we’re still in the experimental stage, so we’ll have to work around that.”
Mark Ma ’20, music Arts Con: “The difference between chamber music and playing concertos is that you actually have to cooperate and listen to each other without a conductor to guide you. I’d like to have a good relationship with other string players and become a better person through Arts Con.”
Vidhya Pathy ’20, music Arts Con: “I wanted to join Arts Con since the moment I applied [to Choate]. I want to expand my repertoire exponentially and play Baroque quartet music.”
Yuting Wang ’20, visual Arts Con: “I used to think art was about colors and canvases. However, as I did more art, I realized that art can literally be anything. Even a bottle of paint spilled on the carpet.”
