On Wednesday, Feb. 21, alumni discussed their differing paths in the arts in a zoom meeting hosted by the University of Rhode Island College of Arts and Sciences.
The meeting featured four alumni who have wound up in different careers in the arts, ranging from photography to video games. The meeting was hosted by Brianne Neptin, experiential education coordinator for the College of Arts & Sciences, and Annu Matthew, professor of fine arts.
One of the alumni was Sarah Fitzgerald ‘09, who graduated with a degree in fine arts with a concentration in photography, and is now a dedicated producer at an appliance company called SharkNinja.
Fitzgerald, who is also a former Good Five Cent Cigar photo editor, mentioned how working small jobs allowed her to find her niche in where she currently works.
“I think it really helps to be able to explore and just take opportunities,” Fitzgerald said. “Take and make any opportunity you can for yourself, and see what you learn from that.”
Fitzgerald used jobs as stepping stones, and had takeaways from each of them to find where she belonged in the arts, she said. She began taking photos for Durkin Cottage Realty after URI, and from there found herself working in the photo production scene, but on the managerial side at Hasbro.
“I like still having this interaction with all of the creatives and being a piece of that creative puzzle, but being more on the analytical and business end of things,” Fitzgerald said.
This notion of taking your time in finding a career in the arts is one that was echoed by other alumni during the panel. Dalex Smith ‘14, who graduated with degrees in anthropology and general fine arts, said he carved a role that is seemingly perfect for him.
“Kind of a hot take is I don’t love fine art,” Smith said. “I feel like I value commercial art higher. Doing a big group project and making something bigger than one person.”
Smith now works for a company called Psychedelic Games as an art director. Before this, Smith worked one of his first jobs out of URI at LensCrafters. He took his time, and found himself in a career path that echoes his interests, Smith said.
“They made me art director on another game that they have, which is a crazy, ridiculous pirate world with magic and stuff in it,” Smith said. “So I spend most of my days drawing pirate ships, characters and monsters and things like that.”
Along with taking your time, going after what you love and what you value will help you arrive in a career that is right for you, Smith said. Originally, he knew he wanted to work in entertainment design, however had no idea how to get there.
“A big part of it is entrenching your life in it, surrounding yourself with people who do it and networking,” Smith said.
By providing this experience of connecting current students to alumni, the panel acted as a networking opportunity for all who participated.
Since the meeting was on Zoom, the students in attendance were separated into breakout rooms for a few minutes at a time, each with a few students and one of the alumni for them to question and get to know.
Another alumni who attended was Amber Beech ‘18, who graduated with a degree in communications and minored in fine arts. She is now the manager of Corporate Communications for Digital Channel User-Experience at CVS Health.
The last alumni in attendance was Stan Strembicki, ‘75, who graduated with a degree in fine arts with a concentration in photography, and is currently a freelance photographer after his career as a fine arts professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ next event is a faculty presentation by professor and Department Chair Ben Anderson on his career path and work on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. in the Memorial Union room 360.