[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Laural is standing in front of wall prints. The NAD logo is at the bottom right corner.
LAURAL: While a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) degree isn’t required to be an artist — I recommend it anyway for several reasons. First, networking opportunities. You’ll meet other colleagues. Second, mentoring — in fact, finding a mentor is important because mentors have a wealth of experience to share. Third, research — as an artist, you need to know what you’re doing, why you’re making that kind of art. Remember, there are so many artists out there, you want to make sure your work is unique. What makes your work stand out? People don’t realize that a MFA includes a lot of reading and learning about other artists — this is how you grow, learn, and know other artists and their work. You’re not the only one creating work. There’s a lot of collaboration work involved. You should know why people create their work. It’s important for me because I want to grow as an artist and as an art teacher, I also want to be able to share the resources with my students.
Black and white close up of Laural’s art table with various paintbrushes and paint. In the center, a white border surrounds white text “LAURAL” underneath, appears in white text “FINE ARTS MFA STUDENT — OWNER OF DIRTYBEARDPRESS–.”
LAURAL: My name is Laural Hartman. I’m an artist, printer, and a faculty member at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID).
Black and white clip of Laural putting up her artwork on the wall.
LAURAL: I first knew I was different when I sat in the backseat of the car where my dad kept stacks of maps, and my family traveled a lot. I often would study the maps, the pictures, the roads and the relationship between this and that. That’s when I knew I’d do something with art.
Black and white clip of Laural opening jars of paint.
LAURAL: I grew up in Los Angeles, California — I went to Tripod, a mainstreamed program. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to get out of California so I picked Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) because their photography program was amazing. Rochester is known for photography because its where Kodak is and RIT had a good relationship with Kodak. As I went through my first year, I realized photography wasn’t what I wanted. So I decided to try Illustration, it included drawing for childrens’ books, magazines and such. Turns out, it also wasn’t for me but I decided to stay and finish — got a Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA).
Black and white clip of Laural gathering paint from a cabinet.
LAURAL: I learned that Illustration was mostly drawing for my clients, I work for them and they tell me what they want. And for me, while it’s fun — it wasn’t what I really wanted. I wanted my work to be more about me. I moved to San Francisco, California and I freelanced awhile to get a feel of what I wanted to do. I decided to take classes at California College of Arts and that was when I realized Fine Arts was it!
Black and white clip of Laural mixing paint next to her prints.
LAURAL: While in California, I fell in love with print-making — letterpress to be specific. I bought an antique press. My husband got a job in Boston, so we decided to move there. I already had a degree in teaching, and you know, life — we needed to make money. I knew I still wanted to pursue Fine Arts, but for now, for my family and our house — I decided to work at The Learning Center for the Deaf where I taught high school level English. I worked two different jobs during that time, I taught during the day and worked on my prints at night for my clients. You know, wedding invitations and all that. I started getting into screenprinting. At that point, I already had a small business, but I finally gave it a name – DirtyBeardPress which was really doing well. Working both jobs at the same time was tough. I loved teaching and the students, but I knew I needed to work with art. Eventually, a colleague at NTID told me that the Visual Communications Studies (VCS) program was looking for a faculty member to teach their art and graphic design courses. I considered it because I really did love my time in Rochester and thought this would help me get back on track to what I really wanted to do in life. I discussed the opportunity with Jeff, my husband — and we had a son too who was just a baby at the time. I mean, we loved Boston and we felt right at home there, but as an artist I felt like it didn’t meet my needs. So, we moved to Rochester! I started teaching and time went on, I realized I needed a MFA for two reasons. First, to continue teaching, which I already loved! And second, it was a chance to figure myself out as an artist, like do I show my work at galleries? So that’s where I am right now, getting my MFA!
Black and white close up clip of Laural mixing paint. White text appears at the bottom center, “Ask yourself if your skills are unique. From there, you should hone your skills so you can stand out as an artist.” Light blue text “- Laural” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.
LAURAL: Start small, go back and ask yourself what you really want to do and why. Then make baby steps, find a mentor — look online for interviews, contact potential mentors and ask them questions. Start building your portfolio. You can start small with a book that has pictures of your work. Create an Instagram account and post your work there. Build your community and network, you’ll take off from there!
Black and white clip of Laural leaving her office door with her door tag handwritten with her name. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of “N-A-D” in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, “National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved”.]