Etymology Influences IT Things Non-IT Things Main

Art and Design After College, After Work Hours

After college, I continued to work with the group of artists I had met while in school. A mix of ages and approaches, townies, professors, and professionals, we shared a common collaborative approach and an interest in putting art in unusual places. We organized shows in temporary spaces in downtown buildings, backyards, and Atlanta galleries and nightclubs, and participated in group shows organized by others, such as the Atlanta Mattress Factory, Nexus Gallery, and Piedmont Arts Festival. We received a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts to put art in unused spaces in downtown business districts across the state, for which multiple cities were researched for possible sites and where we worked with local downtown development authorities and arts organizations. Ultimately, we placed exhibits in Toccoa, Augusta, and Athens with great results. However, due to some poor planning, the exhibit in Augusta was an unexpected source of controversy, and many issues needed to be addressed with the local community and with the artists. In the years I spent working with this group as an organizer and an artist, I learned a lot of valuable lessons about group collaborations, communications, planning, presentation,and documentation which have formed the foundation for many of the skills I use in my present day work as an administrator and project manager for GALILEO.

Computers were also becoming ubiquitous during the late 80's and early nineties. Many of my art school friends were working for small local companies as graphic designers although they had not been in the graphic design program. The MacIntosh computer was providing a new way for graphic designers to work, and through them I began to have some exposure to personal computers and graphic design software. Several of my friends worked for a department in the UGA College of Education called the Center for Educational Technology, and through them I was exposed to then-cutting edge technologies for use in instruction. The CET was the place where I began to recognize the field of Educational Technology, and to see the tools in relation to both instruction and design in general. The relationships I made with the CET people continue to inform my professional life today, as many of my colleagues in my present position either worked in the CET as staff or students or came through the COE programs which eventually became Instructional Technology.

One friend in particular, Ray Lee, was the manager of the CET, and he taught me how to use MicroSoft Word in a 15 minute tutorial, and sold me my first computer, a used Mac Classic with a 6" X 7" black and white screen. Once familiar with the MacIntosh, I began to use the Mac lab at the Science Library, where I learned Adobe Pagemaker and began to produce advertisements and brochures for local businesses and events. The software freed the designer in me from the necessity to render or letter, which had long been a tedious focus of graphic design. I found that it was easy for me to learn computer applications, and that there was a common process and approach based on asking questions and investigating solutions for what I needed to accomplish. In this way, my knowledge, ease, and productivity with computers was greatly enhanced.