Day 10 - LA County Dept. of Public Health mandates indoor masking and OUTDOOR masking at large events
L. and I attended an orientation at Otis College of Art and Design today…
8/25/21. Wednesday
8:00–8:30 – L. invited me to attend orientation at Otis, her new art school, so I’m up early to make sure I’m ready to leave at 10:00. The dog is still asleep so I sit beside her and rub her tummy until she’s ready to go outside. I water a few of my potted plants and the snapdragon starter seedlings that I’m working on. Return inside and gross, sliced American cheese for the dog; coffee for me. I go upstairs.
8:30-9:45 – Shower. Spa Day. Lotion. Make-up. Since I’m going to the orientation with L, I try to dress somewhat fashionably, but I really have no idea what to wear. I put on black jean leggings and a blouse, but I’m not sure if this is appropriate attire. I’m sure L. will tell me.
10:00 - L. is not up yet. Apparently, we are not leaving at 10:00…
9:45-10:45 – I take this time to check emails at College No. 2 and discover that the start time my Dean’s secretary gave me for the SYNCHRONOUS high school class was incorrect. I just recorded the AUDIO Syllabus [last night] where I repeatedly enunciated the incorrect start time to bring the point home for the students. The AUDIO Syllabus needs to be scrapped and re-recorded with the correct start time that I just received from the high school liaison. Great.
I don’t have time right now to start the new recoding so I start updating the Canvas Modules for my high school class instead. The Modules need to be broken apart into separate blocks because this class meets on Wednesdays and Fridays.
11:00 – L. emerges. She says she slept in, but is ready to leave right now. She insists we have plenty of time to go for coffee before the Otis orientation.
11:00-11:30 – Driving. L. and I go to Blue Bottle Coffee, in Fairfax Village, where I order some of the best avocado toast I’ve ever had!
11:30-12:00 – Otis is a few minutes away so we drive to campus, park in the parking structure, and are right on time for orientation.
This is a vaxed school. Students can’t be on campus unless they’ve provided proof of vaccination and EVERYONE is masked…students, administrators, counselors. The orientation takes place in a large room with a projector, where social distancing is easily maintained and the air conditioner is on full blast. L. and I sit together and listen to the various presenters. I take notes.
Otis’ school mascot is an owl so there are numerous owl references. All email accounts are accessed via The Nest and something is called The Hoot. Students are encouraged to report to Security and obtain an “Owl card” that they can use anywhere on campus, especially in the cafeteria. Although students are able to use a regular debit card for purchases, they don’t have to pay sales tax on anything if they use the “Owl card” and this card also enables students to get deep discounts on supplies.
The campus is very beautiful and clean with interesting architecture throughout. As soon as you enter the school, you’re in the main quad. It’s a small campus, easy to navigate.
I learn that Otis offers degrees in Toy Making, Sculpting, and Fashion, to name a few. Minors are available in Clay Sculpting and Sustainability [those are the categories I remember]. I have no artistic background and am not familiar with Art Schools so I find all of this very interesting. The Fashion program is exclusionary…if this is not your proclaimed major, you can’t take any of their classes. This ONLY applies to the Fashion program…if a student’s major is Fashion, he/she can take any art class they want. It’s unclear why access to the Fashion classes is so limited…maybe it’s one of their more popular majors. Of course, L. wants to take a few Fashion classes as she has great style, overall, but she is prohibited from taking a single Fashion course.
I eat some cashews during the orientation.
After the orientation, L. and I and four other students are given a tour of the main building where most of L.’s classes will be held, to include the studios. The studios are impressive…filled with large tables and white walls…lots of sunlight…lots of supplies. There’s also a huuuggee wood shop, with table saws all over the place – a few students are in there creating projects – and a welding room. I see where my money is going as far as tuition is concerned.
We also come across something called the Graffiti Room where students are spray painting various walls in this enclosed space. I guess their work is transitory…because they are spray-painting over previous work and I’m sure the same fate will befall their work, and so on…
One thing I learn is that Otis refused to shut down the studios during the pandemic. They implemented Covid-19 protocols and kept the studios running-nobody got sick. This is not what Parsons, L.’s top choice [located in New York], did. Although Parsons is an actual art school, they shut everything down for the entire school year and none of the students could work on projects. This is unacceptable for art majors. What are the students paying for, then? Parsons costs between $50,000 and $60,000 a year.
L. meets two of the art teachers and they ask who everyone is. When they get to me, I say, “I’m just a friend” because I don’t want L. to feel embarrassed because her Mom is in tow, but L. speaks up and says, “This is my Mom. I brought my Mom with me to orientation.” As we’re taking the tour, I try to hold back so L. can have the opportunity to socialize with some of the students, but she kindly tells me to move up, next to her in line, and then we sit next to each other in one of the studios while the instructors discuss their respective programs. I don’t want to cramp L.’s style but she doesn’t seem to care.
The teacher to student ratio is small - 1:8 or 1:12 kids – so there is lots of individualized attention at this school.
The tour/discussion ends around 3:30 and we are on the road by 4:00, just in time for rush hour traffic. I like the school a lot but, more importantly, L. likes the school a lot, too. I eat a Lara bar on the way home.
-L. tells me her car is riding rough and there is a problem with her shocks and suspension again. Great.
5:30 – 6:00 - Home and I touch up my make-up, then pack an overnight bag, pillow, bolster pillow, and load my car, etc.
6:30-7:00 – I leave for B.’s house with the turkey burgers in tow.
7:00-9:30 – Cocktail hour.
9:30-11:00 – B. grills the turkey burgers and they taste pretty good. He bought potato salad and barbecued beans to accompany the burgers.
11:00-12:00 - Tent time. The mattress B. and I were trying to purchase at Ikea on Saturday suddenly arrived in stock, so B. picked it up yesterday. I test it out and it’s so much better than the air mattress I’ve been using.
Nighttime routine. Bed. We sleep in the tent tonight.