Clarity in New York City Lights
You know what they say, New York City lights a fire within the soul and where dreams are born.
A Sophomore at Massart, craving for something more in life. A year of living in Boston, I had thought the city would be crawling in inspiration and creatives around every corner. Unfortunately, it was quiet and not like anything I had previously expected since I did not know the right people and was also very shy. I had spent many weekends alone in my dorm, feeling lost in my art journey. I wanted more, but didn’t know what I needed to begin with…until October.
August 2018, I picked up a new job in retail and made friends with a coworker who would attend FIT, known as Fashion Institute of Technology. We clicked with a mutual interest in fashion and art, which led to the discussion of visiting New York City for a weekend. I had never been to New York, so I was rather excited for the experience that lied ahead. I also had an internet friend as far back as 2015-2016 who coincidentally also attended FIT and they became friends in the first several weeks of school. Everything was falling into place for one amazing weekend that would become the first of many pivoting moments of my life.
The first Friday of October, Indigenous Peoples Day, no classes to attend, I hopped on the E green line from Museum of Fine Arts, then red line from Park Street to Alewife in Cambridge. A 4-5 hour bus ride, with the privilege of sitting next to a Harvard student that made the drive down more memorable talking about our college experiences by far. We somehow also ended up on the same ride back to Boston!
Arriving on 9W Street in Manhattan, I was greeted with open arms into the city, and meeting one of my internet friends for the first time. She made my day brighter by being so talkative and friendly, making me come out of my shell. I will forever appreciate their kindness. After getting settled in, they showed me around campus, experiencing the college life of New York fashion students. I noticed it was vastly different than Boston in the just the first few hours of being there.
Forwarding to later at night, I walked in Times Square for the first time and it all felt like a dream. Just those first few hours, this is what it was supposed to feel like being a student in the city; the lights, the energy, the endless possibilities. The first night there was just to see all tourists attractions, the next night, I would experience the nightlife of New York Fashion students. Where the real fun begins.
Saturday, we arrived in Soho for a pop up event. The pop up event consisted of several creatives selling their own apparel, a live DJ following up with a massive party for their friends birthday.
We were in and out of the pop up event to go exploring all aspects of Soho. Soho was filled with food trucks, custom cars and all the high end stores you can imagine. I noticed that fashion students would go in there to network with employees, to further their knowledge and possible opportunities in the fashion world. I hadn’t been around students like this in Boston that had this kind of drive. If there was one thing that truly stood out to me on this trip was how hard these students pushed to make a name for themselves. I always wondered how creatives did such things, and the reality is, its you have to be in the right place at the right time, be open and be assertive in what you want. Something so simple, but can be so intimidating if you do not know where to start.
Things began to click.
At the Soho pop up event, I was introduced to mutual friends who talked with me about art and fashion. I wasn’t expecting much, but became pleasantly surprised with such positive feedback and ideas. They were saying how they wanted some of these designs as prints or could see them as stickers/Tshirts, etc. At this time in my life, I just saw my art as something that needed to be done before class, get good grades, and endure 4+ hour critiques by teachers and peers.
That’s when it hit me, they made me realize, that my art had the ability to transcend beyond paper, that it could be seen on a range of apparel, that people would want to buy it. That my art had worth.
My art had worth.
By then, the pop up party began to get rowdy with people moshing, dancing, getting noise complaints that the cops were threatening to show up. We decided to walk to another party. On our way to other parties, everyone in the city is so easy to talk to, though it can be a mixed bag of who and what you’re gonna get. On the streets, I ran into two women, that I still keep in contact with 3 years later, wanting to create visuals with for their own branding. It felt so euphoric to be around people who wanted to network, create, and put themselves out there just as much as I strived to. It truly moved me, it motivated me and would eventually bring that same mindset back with me to Boston.
The rest of my visit, filled with many rooftop parties, new friends, adventures out till 2 am, networking, and even running into trouble on the subway. All making my first trip into the big city a weekend I will certainly never forget. If the people I mentioned in the story ever come to find this blog, I hope you all know that you truly helped me out of a dark place in my life and gave me the motivation to continue to push my art and its boundaries beyond paper and pen. That your kindness, openness and invites down to the city changed me and brought me one of the best weekends I have had in a long time.
About 6 months after the New York City trip, I placed myself into an art exhibition known as RAW Artists, where all types of creatives came together to network and display their talents. If it wasn’t for this trip, it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out that my art did have potential and to figure out how I can display for everyone to see.
Thank you for your time and interest in reading my journey. It truly means a lot and I hope to tell more extravagant stories in the future.
