Justin Boyd, artist and educator
It is hard not to start with a heartfelt acknowledgement to the families who have lost someone this year. Whether to COVID, immigration policies, war, police, natural disasters or natural causes. This year has reminded me just how fragile we are, how similarly we grieve and just how much we all need comforting. On to the more personal stuff: As an educator at Southwest School of Art, there were many positives to take away this year. The first being we were able to have our studio classes in person this fall. Due to the size of our enrollment, the spaciousness of the facilities, and safety precautions put in place, we were able to maintain a safe environment to conduct classes in. Amazingly we didn’t have one on-campus COVID case this semester! Super thankful for that. Being in the classroom teaching and seeing students work in the studios really helped to remind me that art and creativity can help to peel away some of the stress and anxiety this year has layered on. Other notes of positivity: I love Facetiming/Zooming with friends and family more than I ever expected. So much more rad than a phone call and way more meaningful than a text. I welcomed the pairing down of things to do and places to go. It was really nice to clear away some of the noise and focus on friends and family. The extra time allowed me to finish a record I’ve been working on, record a new record with Garrett T. Capps & Nasa Country, talk to family more, and fall in love again with British TV shows! I think my overall takeaway from this year will be one of gratitude and thankfulness. This year has been especially good at highlighting what is important, something I needed for sure. Here is to a cracking 2021!
