What a year. To say that it was a challenging and unique year would still be an understatement. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit close to home, it felt like many aspects of our everyday life, especially with school and the arts, had come to a sudden halt and that everything we knew was going to change. It appeared like we almost did not have a choice but to take a break; to just let everything stop and heal before we can resume things back to normal. With the Fall and Winter terms still continuing remotely and thinking deeply about the potential 2021 BFA graduates who I have created such great relationships with over the years, it was simply not a part of my vision to let VASA and our BFA traditions fizzle. Therefore, I decided to help out VASA this year with a team to trek through this sudden halt, in hoping that we could still do amazing and exciting things. Working under such high stakes and restrictions only made us closer, yet we remained so distant. In a way, it pushed us to work harder than ever before to ensure that we could still have artistic opportunities for students and for our grad class to finally bring pieces of our heart and soul to the public, during a time of constant uncertainty and anxiety. We see this time of a sudden halt as temporary, as perhaps a break for healing and for things to resume stronger than ever, but sometimes the show must go on and we are extremely proud to showcase the grand finale of our BFA journey within this “Intermission.”

As we continued usual VASA operations remotely for the first time while also learning and working through uncertainty, we could not have done it without each other’s help and support during a time when many of us couldn’t even be in the same room together. I would like to thank the VASA team for all of their hard work, collaboration, patience, and endurance throughout our draining online meetings. You all made me feel closer connected to a sense of community even when physical distancing and poor internet connection tried to take that away from us. Without all of your help, we would not have been able to make our fundraising alternatives happen and of course, our big graduation show. On behalf of the graduating class, I would like to thank everyone in the department. From fundamentals to 500-level, thank you to all of the instructors, technicians, MFA students, and all other staff for mentoring and influencing us throughout our artistic journeys. I will never forget how inspiring it was to see the magic from instructors and MFA candidates back when I was a fundamentals student still discovering who I was. I think I can speak for many of us that this program has not only helped us find ourselves as artists, but as people. That is something we cannot thank the department enough for.

To a bigger and greater future for all of us,

Kev Liang, 

2020-2021 VASA President