Alexis Collective’s New Start

Posted by Chantelle Mitchell in collectives

Ronnie Garcia and Rufino Medrano lead an Alexis Collective meeting. Photo by Chantelle Mitchell

Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s Graphic Design and Digital Arts departments have gone through huge changes within the past year. With major faculty changes and a move across campus from Alexis Hall to Fogelson Library, students are getting adjusted and creating a closer community in order for their art to continue to thrive.

At its meeting on Oct. 1, officers and members sit in an intimate circle in Alexis Hall while discussing future prospects for the club as well as upcoming events. Though Alexis Collective has been around for a few years, this semester is its first being recognized as an official organization on campus, a source of pride for its members.

Alexis Collective is an organization built to create a sense of community between Communication Design and Digital Arts students. “We thought it would be really interesting to have more of a collective effort since there were a lot of students who were collaborating and doing projects with each other already,” Ronnie Garcia, Alexis Collective president of Digital Arts, says, “This is just having a more official outlet for it.”

Working together is one of Alexis Collective’s main focuses. “I mean, you’ve got people from all different backgrounds that have the same interests and some of them have the same purpose for why they came here. It’s just really great to have that available here compared to back home. And they’re all here,” Rufino Medrano, Alexis Collective co-president of Graphic Design, says, “I think that’s really the benefit of creating this collective, the point was to just help one another so that we could all be the best together and grow together and come up with ways to find solutions in our community.”

In addition to becoming an official club, Alexis Collective has successfully started holding workshops, or “glorified tutoring sessions” as Garcia calls them. The workshops cover a range of topics such as Cinema 4D and storyboarding. The group says they want to offer help developing any skills that aren’t being taught in classes so that students are prepared after graduation.

Ronnie Garcia, Digital Arts and Visual Development senior, acts as the club’s Digital Arts President. Photo by Chantelle Mitchell

Alexis Collective also prides itself in hosting art shows that are more relaxed as opposed to “professional.” “Another Show About Pizza,” being held in Alexis Hall on Oct. 7, is the second pizza-centric show that Alexis Collective has put on at the university.

“We didn’t want it to be something as general or professional, so we were like ‘Let’s just have a fun showcase! What’s fun?’” Garcia says, “So the pizza show was the first of our freeform shows. So we had the pizza show, which was still our best show to date, we had the movie poster remake show, and the Pantone show. Those were more based on an actual theme.”

Another project that the Collective has started is Sketch, an opportunity for students to work and critique. “What Sketch is, is basically a date and time when people can come together and work on their draftsmanship issues or just homework in general for classes,” Jacob Goodey, president of Sketch, says, “It helps you work on your own personal projects and it gives you your own time. It gets you out of your comfort zone. Go meet new people and see who also has the same problems as you. People can help you fix your problems.”

The club says they want to help students find where they belong. This year it’s introduced subcategories, such as social media and curating. “We’ll find you a place doing what you like to do, and we’ll accommodate those needs and make you feel like you belong in this community.” Medrano says.

All shows and workshops that Alexis Collective hosts are open to everyone of any major.

Alexis Collective meets the first weekend of every month, while Sketch meets every Monday and Friday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the upper level of Fogelson Library.