Meet Giorgia Peckman - Studio Art & Environmental Studies Certificate

Giorgia Peckman, from San Francisco, Calif., is a junior studio art major, she is also pursuing an environmental studies certificate. What projects have you worked on (or are currently working on) for your major? I've made several artist's books for both studio art and environmental Studies. My artist book final for Introduction to Environmental Studies was chosen to be permanently archived in Special Collections at Olin, and a copy is currently on display at the new student run art space, The Workshop. One of my work study jobs is as a studio assistant in the Digital Design Studio, the newest art space at Wesleyan, where I help fellow students on their projects and keep the space in order. Through the DDS I'm learning how to use new technology and software such as 3-D printing and modeling, which I hope to incorporate into my future art practices. I'm excited about the DDS and my involvement with it because of the opportunities it presents Studio majors to innovate and integrate new practices and methods into their work. I'm currently in Graphic Design and Introduction to Digital Art. I'm trying to go abroad to the Glasgow School of Art to study design next spring, to give me a wider range of knowledge and design experience. What made you choose this major? When I came to Wesleyan I wanted to be a conservation biologist, but very quickly realized that my brain didn't work in that way, and that I didn't want to devote my life to academia and research. I grew up doing art and have two parents for artists, and had never thought about pursuing art, but once I was in a place where I could truly choose whatever I wanted to study, I came back to art, specifically design, realizing it was what had always excited me most. I have always been happiest when I am designing things, especially books, and was thrilled that the design track in the studio major is focused on book and print design. I was considering transferring to an art school last year, but decided to stay at Wesleyan because I needed to be in at a school with rigorous academics where I could study things unrelated to art. I was initially going to double major with environmental studies, but recently decided to only get the certificate because I want to take a wider array of classes to make the most of my education here. What groups or activities are you involved with at Wesleyan? I am currently the chair of WeSlam, Wesleyan's slam poetry group, as well as part of the competitive team. As chair, I organize on campus poetry events and bring poets to campus to perform. On the team, I serve as the main logistics contact and organizer, and also write, edit, and perform with my teammates. We are going to CUPSI, the national intercollegiate poetry slam in Austin, Texas, this April. I was on the team last year and we went to CUPSI in Virginia and took 6th in the nation. Other than WeSlam, there are no groups I have that kind of active involvement in, but I learn about many groups through their collaborations with WeSlam. I often perform poetry in different student performances, as well as do design work for them. Last year I designed a series of five books for a student publishing project, and design the zine-based program for Esque, a queer burlesque performance art collective on campus, which I performed in last year. I'm also involved in the Wesleyan Jewish Community, and am planning a Poetry Shabbat for the end of the semester. What are you passionate about? It's been a very hard decision to not pursue the environmental studies major because climate change and environmental justice are issues I'm incredibly passionate about, and I am very interested in critical theory surrounding the anthropocene, which is both an environmental, philosophical, and social issue and set of theories. I'm very passionate about poetry and graphic design, as I've mentioned above, but outside of these things I am directly involved in at Wes, I'm also a capoeirista. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art I've been playing since I was 6 years old, and it's been very challenging for me to come to Wes, where I can't train regularly, since it is my number one priority when I'm not on campus. Growing up with capoeira, I've grown into someone who truly values and prioritizes community building and service, and I think that attitude has influenced how I carry myself and how I get involved in things. <a href="http://video.wesleyan.edu/collections/collection/admission">Click here to see more videos like this.</a>