A Cornell Creative Road Trip 🚗🛣

By Isabela Perez

Hello fellow creative minds and aspiring creators, and welcome to the Cornell Fall 2022 semester! By now, we are all well into week six, and whether you feel like you are killing it or floundering helplessly and being killed by it, don’t worry, your fellow peers are there with you. 

The start of the semester is always intense, and it is easy to get caught up in the endless academic tolls that are present in a Cornell student’s life. That is precisely why Cornell Creatives is here: to remind you that there is more to Cornell, and life in general, than sitting in the library with your eyes glued to a screen responding to discussion posts. There are so many places around us that are begging to be used by creators and to be filled by their creativity. You don’t even have to know where to look. You can make anything into your center of creation. However, if you are completely lost and have no idea what I am talking about, then I invite you to come with me on a Cornell Creative Road Trip. 

Even though I said there is more to life than the library, for some people that’s their safe place or their inspiration, and that is not only okay, but it’s great! The other day, I was in Uris Library trying to complete one of said discussion posts, when I heard a small click! I picked up my head, looked around and couldn’t find the source, so I gave up and went back to my assignment, but then there were a series of more clicks that could not be ignored. Peaking through the stacks and cranning my head was no use, but when the clicks stopped again a photographer appeared. The creator was on the 3rd tier of the A.D. White Reading Room in Uris Library, squinting through an impressive camera, taking pictures down upon the students hard at work. From my point of view, this spot is one of the coolest places on campus, and not only is it a great place to study, but this individual proved that it can be a creator’s inspiration and creative space too. It is an impressive thing that in a creator’s mind, one can make a library into a photography studio or maybe it can even act as an artists’ bowl of fruit. 

Speaking of food, the next stop on our trip is the building right next door to Uris, Willard Straight Hall. We aren’t exactly going to Okenshields, but if you feel inspired there, feel free to go ahead and make a pit stop. Right when you walk into the building you can see the magnificent murals painted on the walls. There is everything from knights on horseback ready to joust to peacocks flaring their feathers. Beautiful chandeliers hang from the ceilings, and right in the corner of the first room, there is a single grand piano. Today, I was passing the building and heard the most beautiful music coming from that room. I jumped at the chance to see who the pianist was and listen to their song more closely. There are no other words to describe their talent other than incredible. What was even more impressive than his ivory skills was his courage of showing his talent and art to complete strangers in that room with people walking by. I am not sure if he was practicing for something, just playing for enjoyment, or felt instant inspiration from the onlooking knights, but I wasn’t going to interrupt to find out. What was most important was that he used a space where many wouldn’t feel comfortable displaying their love of music, and that is something to aspire to. 

Now, we will move from one creator’s home to a central hub of creativity for many on campus. If you have found yourself around the Art’s Quad the past couple of weeks you may have noticed two strange yet fascinating displays taking up some of the lawn. One of them, near Morrill Hall, looks something like an unusual wooden staircase leading to seemingly nothing. The other is a series of pink, semi-transparent fabrics hanging from the trees and coming out of the ground on the opposite side of the Quad. Now you may be wondering, like me, what purpose these displays serve. Are they for pictures or a special event? Are they class projects? Did Cornell suddenly decide that the creepy metal statues of historical figures weren’t in style anymore? Unsurprisingly, all of my assumptions were wrong. These striking exhibits are actually works of art. The staircase is a construction made by Felix Heisel called “Circulating Matters,” where used materials are employed to represent “the potential of a local circular construction industry in Ithaca.” The pink fabrics are an installation by Sara Jimenez who, as said on the display marker, aims to reorient onlookers’ assumptions of history through visual strategies, and this specific display represents our very own Goldwin Smith Hall using colored textiles and architecture techniques. These two creators felt so zealous about their passions that they got their creations displayed in the middle of the newly appointed #1 college in New York! #GoBigRed (To learn more about these installations find the display markers on the Arts Quad or look them up on Cornell’s website) 

Okay, I realize that this Road Trip was short and maybe a bit confusing, but out of everything I hope you take away one important message; Any person can make any place their center of creation and inspiration, and Cornell has countless places where you can start. It doesn’t matter if no one else sees potential in a place or an object. If you believe you can take advantage of a space to bring your creation to life, go for it! Go play piano in Willard Straight Hall, take pictures in any old building, draw people’s portraits on the bus, and dance in the middle of Ho Plaza. It doesn’t matter where you are because you have the members of Cornell Creatives to back you. There are hundreds of places here at Cornell where you can find inspiration for your creations, and there are also countless more places where you can share them with others. If you are up for the creative challenge, this campus may just be what you need. ✨