Graduation remains a busy time for almost every graduating senior, but on top of the usual preparation, students from the College of Fine Arts are faced with an extra workload of final performances and projects.
Aaliyah Radebaugh is a senior studying studio art with an emphasis in illustration, design and animation. Since the age of 10, her dream school has been the University of Arizona, and by 16 she knew she wanted to pursue art. She spent her entire life drawing and got into animation when she was 11.
Radebaugh was one of six students chosen to be a JustArts Fellow for this school year. This program granted her a stipend to use towards a project that could benefit her community. Her project titled “Wishing for Change, Creating tomorrow,” features three student testimonies and their wishes.
“So I collected their testimonies and their wishes for a better campus […] like I’ve been collecting their testimonies to turn into stories that hopefully people can take inspiration from and learn from. These experiences need to be shared […] the reasoning behind my project is because […] like a lot of times decisions are made behind closed doors when it comes to this university, and all universities even, but specifically going back to the U of A, making decisions that are taking diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility away from its student body even though look around, you’re going to see somebody that’s going to be affected by the rollback,” Radebaugh said.
“That’s really what I’m preparing for […]. I’m not necessarily preparing for, like my grad date. I’m preparing for all these final projects.” Radebaugh said.
Radebaugh has also been working on her senior thesis project, an animated short film that combines hip hop and empathy. Working on these two projects has led to a lot of late and sleepless nights, marketing for her live event and final adjustments to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“I just remember last year, I was like, I’m just going to do a live event, I’m going to do a website, I’m going to do animations, and I did. I did everything that I put my mind to, that I put on my checklist. That’s something about me. I kind of like to do whatever I put my mind to,” Radebaugh said.
The live event and screening of her project will take place April 28 at the Marroney Theatre and will feature a performance from Amplified, an a cappella group at UA.
Abril Aguirre is a senior studying film and television and Spanish and Portuguese with an emphasis in Portuguese. She decided to choose what her heart wanted and major in film, but added Spanish and Portuguese as a backup and also because she thought it would be fun to learn another language.
“At some point I would be talking three different languages in the same day. So it was a little bit difficult, but it was really fun and I’m a person who likes doing multiple things at once. And then I got to see different perspectives and I really enjoyed that,” Aguirre said. Her favorite aspect of her studies is the welcoming nature of the school and the social bonding because of how close people get while filming.
Every year, the school of Theatre, Film and Television holds the “I Dream in Widescreen” event where several senior thesis films are shown at the Fox Theatre. This is a formal event that, according to Aguirre, is like a mini Oscars and is always fun to see students, families and friends’ reactions. The event will take place May 9 this year and two films that Aguirre produced will be shown.
One student film titled “On the Road” follows a girl in the 70’s who wants to become a singer. Another, titled “Synesthesia,” follows an android trying to fit into the human world.
“The director is trans and so she wanted to make a film about her experience and so it was super nice to work with such diverse people and like just getting to work on projects like that that are so meaningful to someone is just super nice,” Aguirre said.
“There’s a lot of preparation,” Aguirre said. “I mean, it’s a lot of effort and staying up, and late nights and kind of figuring out how you’re going to make this process happen and then later on preparing for the screening and making sure everything is picture locked and edited and everything looks great and then also promotion.”
According to Aguirre, she feels more confident in her work this year compared to the past 3 years and she has discovered that producing is her favorite thing. As an analytical person, she finds that it’s the perfect role for her. Aside from the preparation for the showing of the films she produced, she is preparing for graduation by completing assignments, applying for jobs and doing the fun stuff like buying a dress and her cap and gown.
Sophie McCutcheon is a senior studying dance and biology with a premedical emphasis. She knew from a young age she wanted to pursue dance and she decided to double major so that she could keep her options open. The School of Dance led her to the UA.
According to McCutcheon, the School of Dance has helped her become confident in the style of dance she wanted to pursue, as well as other styles and aspects of dance, like choreographing. Her confidence has allowed the seriousness of senior year to not feel as daunting now that she is going through auditions, as opposed to the mock auditions she participated in years prior.
“I knew from the moment I came into school that I really wanted to pursue more of a musical theater style dance. I grew up singing and dancing as well, so I knew I wanted to take all those three things and find a career where I could perform doing all three, and so the school has done a great job of saying, ‘Okay, you know that’s what you want to do, so now what other things do we need to fill your time here in 4 years to make you feel really ready to engage in that industry,’ and also knowing that we encompass so much more than just that one lane too,” McCutcheon said.
She has gotten to choreograph five times throughout her time at UA. Her fifth choreographed piece, which is also her senior capstone project, was selected to be a part of the Spring Student Spotlight: Adventure which ran from May 1-3. Her contemporary group piece also featured live singers from Amplified.
“It definitely was something I’d been planning for a while and it definitely is a big commitment of time when you choreograph a piece and present work in general,” McCutcheon said. Preparations began last summer to bring this piece to life.
“This piece kind of touches on the concept of the fear we sometimes have about looking too closely within ourselves,” McCutcheon said. “Just in case we find something that we wish we hadn’t seen or that we wish we didn’t know about […] and so it’s kind of an exploration of the there moments where we take something we see in ourselves and we let it affect the way we interact with others and how do we break free from that?”
These seniors, amongst many others, have put in a lot of hard work on top of their usual school work to get their projects stage and screen ready. Radebaugh’s film can be seen at the Marroney Theatre on April 28, McCutcheon’s choreographed piece was shown at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre from May 1-3 and Aguirre’s films can be seen at the Fox Theatre on May 9.
