Last week, internationally renowned graphic artist Shepard Fairey painted a mural at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Most students here, including myself, eagerly awaited his arrival, posting Facebook statuses, and antagonizing friends at other colleges who didn’t have Shepard Fairey painting a mural there.   I’m a big fan of Fairey’s work, especially his Obey campaign, and his uncompromising style, so I was looking forward to getting a picture or something with him. My excitement doubled when I managed to squeeze myself into Fairey’s busy schedule to secure an interview for my journalism class. Who needs a picture or an autograph when I can actually sit down and talk to the man? With all the excitement, though, came fear. What could  a second- year art student ask Fairey that a seasoned journalist hadn’t already covered? All Monday, students gathered around Fairey, who was making tremendous progress on his black and red ode to art. Some managed to get pictures with him. Others got some Obey stickers autographed. Junior Randy Martinez even had the opportunity to assist Fairey with some of the stencil work. As long as Fairey was painting, there were no fewer than 20 students watching him work. I had class all day so I didn’t get to join them. However, I did overhear the Public Enemy and NWA that he was listening to while working, which took him from a man I admired to a man I thought was the coolest on the planet. The next day, photographer Natalie Abel and I waited patiently outside a conference room, conversing about how nervous we were for the interview. Finally, SFUAD’s PR official, Lauren Eichmann, called us into the room. Upon entering the room, my immediate thought was that despite us both being about 5’11,’’ Shepard Fairey is a short man. I don’t know what it is about celebrity that alters expectations but I expected him to be at least 7 feet tall. Fairey appeared tired, which made sense considering the cold temperatures outside and the many hours he had already spent on the mural. He was decked in apparel from his clothing line, which at first seems narcissistic, but upon further reflection, if I had my own clothing line I wouldn’t pay for clothes either. Natalie and I introduced ourselves to Fairey, who extended his paint-covered hand for a handshake. I was notified beforehand that once I was in the room I would need to wait my turn, as the Frontier blog had a conference call interview with Fairey first. Two Frontier bloggers from New Zealand interviewed Fairey for close to 40 minutes, asking him questions about his humble beginnings as an artist and about Shepard’s most famous work, The Obama Hope poster. Most of his answers one could find on his Wikipedia page, though it was interesting to hear him talk about obscure late 80’s album covers and the skateboard culture that influenced much of his early work. The Frontier bloggers thanked Fairey for his time, and Fairey returned their politeness before ending the call. I flipped through my notebook, nervous and trying to find the first question. Prominently displayed on the mural is the phrase “Make Art Not War,” so I figured I would start with what the phrase means to him and what he wanted it to mean for the students of SFUAD. “What I felt was the best approach, was something more open to interpretation,” Fairey said. “Something that was about looking at art as a positive alternative to war and how each person would use their art as an alternative to war is up to them. I see creativity leads to recognizing humanity in others, to be compassionate towards others.” That was a great answer to a question that I’m sure every media outlet had already asked him. Having asked one explicitly journalistic question that I probably could have written a serviceable...