Amanda Yvonne Edwards
I am a leader, a volunteer, a contributor, a collaborator and a mural artist. And I could do it all, because I’m a Bluejay.
Studio Art, College of Arts and Sciences
I learned a lot in my time at Creighton, including things I’ve discovered about myself. So many aspects of Creighton’s curriculum and community are designed to help students evolve. As a freshman, I took an art class to fulfill a core requirement. It quickly became a favorite and then a major. My professors helped me see that art can be more than a hobby. It can be a career and a way to serve others.
One summer, I took on a project that helped me grow as an artist and a person. I painted an outdoor mural as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program, which is administered by the Center for Undergraduate Research (CURAS). The project was both fun and challenging. Figuring out how to create a large body of work required a lot of research. From deciding how to clean the wall and determining how much paint I needed, to managing volunteers and learning what time of day is best for painting, I discovered so much.
Above all, I learned how to overcome challenges. Midsummer, I found out I needed to get approval from Creighton’s spaces committee, and it felt like starting over. I needed authorization from several people, including deans and Creighton’s president. For a while, I didn’t think it was going to happen. But with patience and face-to-face meetings, I was able to get the approvals I needed and continue with the project. As a graduate, I have applied those problem-solving lessons into my work.
I’m proud of how it turned out, and I’m proud of what it represents. Visually, it depicts mother nature, but I also see my growth in the piece. I see the support of my professors and advisors, I see the time and effort of the occupational therapy and fine arts students who volunteered, I see the hard work I put in, and I see how the Creighton community came together.
