Lydia Rosenberg is a second-year MFA student.
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Education Background: B.F.A Pacific Northwest College of Art, Intermedia Degree Program: MFA
How did you get interested in your field? I have always been in the process of looking for ways to understand the world. My interests have taken on many subjects but I ultimately recognize art making to be the best way to explore and express the many facets of my interests. Artists can be anything now, I like the freedom in that.
What was your background prior to coming to Weitzman School? I worked for artists in their studios, had some odd jobs to pay the rent and made work. Just before coming to Penn I co-founded an artist-run project space and curated a few shows in various venues in Portland, Oregon. I participated in group shows and solo projects around the country, gave talks about my work and wrote essays for catalogs for shows friends of mine were doing.
Why did you choose Penn? I weighed everything out, made lists, budgets, evaluations, the bottom line came down to the reason that I applied: this program is interdisciplinary which means that we not only get to see, discuss and understand the various modes of art making, but we also have the freedom and opportunity to experiment with different media. The faculty here are outstanding, insightful and work in such different fields: when I had the opportunity to speak with some of them, I was blown away by the careful attention and consideration they gave to my work. When I came to visit the studios of the students, I was excited by the diversity of the work, forms and dialogues that existed within the group. The other major factor was the value placed on research and cross-disciplinary inquiry. University of Pennsylvania has so many amazing departments that we have access to. I appreciated the fact that the program facilitates learning outside of one’s field and recognizes how influential this can be to studio work.
What has been your favorite class so far? I am learning so much in Ken Lum’s Making Space and Public Art seminar. It engages students to think about their work on a larger scale and in a public sphere and I find the readings and discussions to be relevant to the way I have been thinking.
What are you learning right now that will help you in the future? I am learning about discipline, community, how to write about my work, how to expand the way I approach what I do. Studio visits with faculty and peers have helped me see the differences between how I see something operating and its alternate manifestations.
What do you like best about Philadelphia? Philly has been good so far, the layers of history and diversity are a great change from Portland. There is so much to explore, it is a big city with so many distinct neighborhoods and personalities. I have found it very inspiring and welcoming. It is a great pedestrian city, and a great biking city.
What are your career ambitions? I want to continue to experiment and develop new challenges in my work, to keep moving forward, keep finding new pockets and layers to explore. The goal is to have a visual dialogue that shifts and changes with my interests, that expresses my experience and understanding. I am always investigating the different roles the artist has, and I hope to pursue many of these positions, all eventually accumulating towards a career of many forms and roles. You can contact Lydia at rolydia@design.upenn.edu.
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