The final touch
Juliana O'Neill
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Arts
Past the paints and pencils, hidden in a back room teeming with art, senior Meredith Bogacz works on a sculpture for her upcoming show.
It's 1 a.m. at Sage Center for the Arts, but Meredith continues to indulge her passion for art.
"I've been drawing since I could pick up a pen," she said. "Music and art are my big things. And Horses. I've always been drawing horses and I've been riding since I was 3."
Two years ago, however, Meredith planned to major in biology.
"I liked biology in high school and I was good at it," she said. "I thought I was going to be a physical therapist. It seemed like a good stable career. That way, I could afford to ride horses and own a nice horse."
Her sophomore year, though, Meredith began thinking about changing her major from biology to art.
"I was looking at the classes I needed to take to get into pre-professional school, and I realized I would have no time to do the things I loved, like music and art," she said. "I hated my life as a biology major. I was really miserable."
Kathy Bogacz, Meredith's mother, said she helped her daughter with the decision.
"I told her, 'Just think it through and make the best choice for yourself, your career, your future - and be happy with your choice,'" Kathy said.
Meredith changed her major a couple days into her junior year.
"She saw how happy I was and she switched," said junior Tricia Schoon, an art major and Meredith's former roommate. "And when she did, she loosened up. She was smiling a lot more."
Her mother also noticed the change.
"She was much happier, much less stressed," Kathy said. "She is still stressed with all the deadlines and such, but it's a different kind of stress when you're actually enjoying what you're doing."
Switching to art her junior year required Meredith to fit four years of art classes into two intense years. But she does not regret the change, she said.
"If I was a biology major, instead of spending of hours and hours of all-nighters in Sage, I would be in a lab," Meredith said. "In a windowless lab. With chemicals. I couldn't handle it."
Now free to pursue her art, Meredith began sculpting recently.
"I had never touched clay before - I just wanted to [take the class] so I could move on to painting and drawing," she said. "But it came really naturally. I would look and then just be able to sculpt. It was never hard. It was always enjoyable."
She said she enjoys the late nights in Sage. She is currently working on a sculpture of Aries on a horse for her show on April 27. Her show will include art from all three areas: sculpting, painting, and drawing.
Besides her late nights with art, Meredith also spends much of her time playing the violin. She plays in a campus Irish band and fiddles in Brothers of the Sea, a Detroit-based band.
Because she changed her major, she said she now enjoys a life filled with art, horses, and music.
"Once you let go and enjoy and do what you love, things fall into place," Schoon said. "Meredith found herself in art."
It's 1 a.m. at Sage Center for the Arts, but Meredith continues to indulge her passion for art.
"I've been drawing since I could pick up a pen," she said. "Music and art are my big things. And Horses. I've always been drawing horses and I've been riding since I was 3."
Two years ago, however, Meredith planned to major in biology.
"I liked biology in high school and I was good at it," she said. "I thought I was going to be a physical therapist. It seemed like a good stable career. That way, I could afford to ride horses and own a nice horse."
Her sophomore year, though, Meredith began thinking about changing her major from biology to art.
"I was looking at the classes I needed to take to get into pre-professional school, and I realized I would have no time to do the things I loved, like music and art," she said. "I hated my life as a biology major. I was really miserable."
Kathy Bogacz, Meredith's mother, said she helped her daughter with the decision.
"I told her, 'Just think it through and make the best choice for yourself, your career, your future - and be happy with your choice,'" Kathy said.
Meredith changed her major a couple days into her junior year.
"She saw how happy I was and she switched," said junior Tricia Schoon, an art major and Meredith's former roommate. "And when she did, she loosened up. She was smiling a lot more."
Her mother also noticed the change.
"She was much happier, much less stressed," Kathy said. "She is still stressed with all the deadlines and such, but it's a different kind of stress when you're actually enjoying what you're doing."
Switching to art her junior year required Meredith to fit four years of art classes into two intense years. But she does not regret the change, she said.
"If I was a biology major, instead of spending of hours and hours of all-nighters in Sage, I would be in a lab," Meredith said. "In a windowless lab. With chemicals. I couldn't handle it."
Now free to pursue her art, Meredith began sculpting recently.
"I had never touched clay before - I just wanted to [take the class] so I could move on to painting and drawing," she said. "But it came really naturally. I would look and then just be able to sculpt. It was never hard. It was always enjoyable."
She said she enjoys the late nights in Sage. She is currently working on a sculpture of Aries on a horse for her show on April 27. Her show will include art from all three areas: sculpting, painting, and drawing.
Besides her late nights with art, Meredith also spends much of her time playing the violin. She plays in a campus Irish band and fiddles in Brothers of the Sea, a Detroit-based band.
Because she changed her major, she said she now enjoys a life filled with art, horses, and music.
"Once you let go and enjoy and do what you love, things fall into place," Schoon said. "Meredith found herself in art."
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