I contacted Make Studio in the weeks before graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in May, 2012 and began interning for them that coming fall. I am now writing this on the anniversary of my graduation, one year after I first wrote Make Studio. Now, I’m not going to lie, the first year out of undergrad hasn’t been an easy one, in fact its been filled with many questions about my future, my interests, what I should do next, where I should go next, why did I go to art school during a recession…? These questions still haven’t all answered themselves (and who knows if they ever will), but in this past year and my time working with the artists at the studio, one thing has absolutely been confirmed for me, and that is the importance of making. The practice of making broadens our horizons, enriches the value of our day to day, and provides us with a physical reflection of ourselves in the world. Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, the importance of making,  of growing, of changing or challenging your ideas of what you think you can do or can’t do, is immeasurable.

It’s easy to get lost in our routines. It easy to get lost in self-consciousness and lose our relationship to making- and it’s easy to spend more time thinking about making than actually using our hands. For me, what has been so inspiring about spending time here at the Make Studio is being able to witness these artists’ commitment to their studio practice. That commitment has benefited them and all the people around them. They greet each new piece with absolute sincerity and push themselves to try things they have never tried before, to grow as artists and to grow as people. At the same time, they are professionals, constantly editing out work for the public from the work that is for them, exercises and sketches. As soon as they finish one piece they move on to the next, letting go of that preciousness that for artists can be so debilitating. This process isn’t easy, but such is the nature of making, and their commitment to that process is infectious. I am sad to be leaving Make Studio as an Intern this month but am very excited to be back as a volunteer and support in the future.

Kristin McWharter