Wandering through the Reed Center the other day after classes, I knew I would hear the sounds of pianos, cellos, and other instruments as those students devoted to music practice in the afternoon program time slot.
But I was not fully prepared to see what was happening in the fine arts studios. While it was certainly fun to observe artists building portfolios for RISD or other college programs, it was even more enlightening to hear mentors and students speak a language of art that was unfamiliar to me—questions and responses about the way a line works, or even just the segment of a line; or discussions about ranges and shades of color that I only dimly recall from my own college art history class. These were students well on their way to a level of expertise and confidence well beyond their chronological years and I was awed by the talent and diligence that I witnessed.