Fillable Printable Sample Artist Statement

Sample Artist Statement

Mason Richards

Artist Statement

In preparation for writing this artist statement, I sat at my computer staring

blankly at the screen. Then I sat on my sofa with pen and paper in hand. I

read through old journals to figure out the best way to describe myself as an

artist. I wanted it to be extraordinary. I played Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and

Kanye West’s CD and re-read excerpts from Aristotle’s The Rhetoric and The

Poetics, and came up with nothing. Then, in the middle of a musical riff by

Miles Davis and after looking at the picture that I had unknowingly scribbled

on my notepad, I realized that that the best way to describe about my

artistic self is to simply do just that. For as long as I can remember, I have

been a creative spirit. Now, at this juncture of my life, the most natural

trajectory is to parlay my talents, knowledge and creative vision into

filmmaking, more specifically, film directing. With this, my first and only

choice for graduate school is the Film Directing program offered at Cal Arts.

It is the most ideal environment for me to further grow and develop my

talents as an artist and as a director.

My undergraduate degrees from Vanderbilt University in English: Intellectual

History and Human & Organizational Development, combined with my

theatrical background and life experiences makes me an excellent candidate

for the MFA program in Film Directing at CalArts. I have stories to tell and I

have a natural talent for directing, having worked as an actor for many

years. In time and through specific experiences, I have discovered that it is

one thing to work as an actor, however, I find myself more fascinated by the

work of a director. I believe that the director has greater depth and

responsibility in telling a story. Moreover, I am interested in learning and

mastering all of the creative and technical aspects of telling and story on film

from beginning to end.

My First Time

I grew up in Brooklyn, and as a young man, I was a shy kid with a slight

stuttering problem. I was a visionary. Basically, I was able to see things and

write about them before I can act them out. In short, my interpersonal skills

were marginal, however, my mind raced. At age 13, I was a straight –A

student and the founder and Editor-And-Chief of a teen magazine called Teen

Lines which was successfully distributed to public schools throughout the New

York City area. With all my involvement with youth leadership I was invited

to an improv workshop at the well-known Circle in a Square Theatre in

Manhattan. This was daunting for me because though I harbored secret

desires to perform, I just didn’t know how to play it out. Then, when I was

randomly thrown a topic of “peanut butter and jelly” to improvise a scene

and then a song on the same topic, I gagged, but by the end, I was a

changed kid. This was the first moment in my life that I decided to pursue a

career in the arts.

I subsequently signed up for acting classes, got an agent, and starting

working immediately as an actor. I became a member of a very prominent

theater company called The CityKids Repertory. It was a youth

empowerment organization founded by Laurie Meadoff where the focus was

arts-education. In CityKids, I soared. We traveled throughout the country

performing original pieces which we had workshopped, improvised and wrote

as a group. It was also in CityKids that I met some of my life friends,

discovered my inner voice, which cured my stuttering, and recognized the

power of the arts to impact the world.

Transition

Life started to set in. At age 14, I dropped out of high school in full pursuit

of a career in the arts. I found myself running around New York City with a

headshots in my backpack to auditions, taking dance classes and voice

lessons. I had done a commercial and joined the Screen Actor’s Guild.

Things were great. Eventually the harsh reality of my family life began to

affect the way I saw the world and my place in it. My stepfather was

diagnosed with manic depressive disorder which made my family life very

tremulous. I felt like I was living the perfect artist’s life in New York City,

however, I knew that things needed to change. I felt like I had to do more

with my life to help out my family. My family emigrated from Guyana, South

America when I was age 7 in pursuit of a better life. My parents both worked

two jobs to provide for myself and my siblings and I felt like I could do more

to actualize what they told us about the American dream. I found out about

an amazing organization called The Posse Foundation which offers full

academic leadership scholarships to some of the top universities in the

country. I jumped at the opportunity. I took my G.E.D. and SATs in the

same month and after a very rigorous selection process, I was accepted to

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vanderbilt

It was at Vanderbilt that I truly began to find the balance between any

artistic and intellectual self. I realized that I did not have to necessarily

separate the two. I believe that as human beings were are all a sum of our

experiences. Moreover, I believe that all of my life experiences have shaped

the character and the man that I am today. At Vandy, I directed my first full

length production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When

the Rainbow is Enuf” among other projects. I also had the opportunity to

intern at the Black Filmmaker Foundation in New York City and was blessed

with the opportunity to work as a production assistant with one of my heroes

in film: Spike Lee on his film Get on the Bus. All of these experiences have

moved me closer to actualizing my true artistic self and quenched my thirst

for further knowledge in the craft of storytelling and film.

CalArts

I firmly believe that the Masters Program in Film Directing at CalArts is part

of my natural trajectory in the direction of further growth and success in the

arts. I have a strong understanding of dramatic structure and an unyielding

passion for the arts. In short, I am an artist who dreams in color, and

though at times I may see the world in black and white, I trust my heart and

creative intellect to find the balance. I welcome the opportunity to learn

from the best.