MCA Stories: Aaron Boyd
Aaron Boyd
BFA with concentration in Sculpture/Metals, 2020
What do you hope to focus on in your career?
Right after graduating I don’t have any particular plans except looking for a job and honing my craft. I hope to focus on what sets my art apart from others in the same field, and to hone my making techniques.
What was a memorable experience you had at MCA?
An experience I’ll never forget would have to be a more recent one this past February. I had the chance to travel abroad this past summer and I chose to go to Japan due to heritage and my art. While there I got learn some basic bladesmithing techniques from a professional master Swordsmith, Taro Asano. And since I started back in August, I had been pushing for him to come here and give a lecture as well as a masterclass at the Metal Museum. So my memory is being able to set that up and have it go successfully.
What does MCA mean to you?
MCA is or rather will have been the only place around the area where I could truly grow as an artist and learn from some of the greatest teachers uninhibited. I didn’t have the usual college load of unnecessary classes that weren’t privy to my major, and when we did it wasn’t outside the realm of things we wouldn’t use everyday. For example there wasn’t calculus or chemistry that everyone had to take. It was a school where you went to become a better artist in general and one that more often than not had you produce amazing work that everyone was proud of. Over all MCA was the perfect school for me as far as starting me off on a good foundation for becoming a successful artist and I can’t thank the people there enough for helping everyone over the years with their dream of being a creator.
What made you decide to continue with MCA after the closure was announced?
After the closure was announced, everyone was upset. More so the teachers than anyone, but the students were mixed. There were those who were a little relieved that they were graduating before, and then the ones that couldn’t graduate in time due to them being a freshman. But being a sophomore when they announced, I knew I had to finish here at MCA. How could I just leave and go somewhere else after two years with the professors that were also my friends? It just made sense for me to stay and to work even harder, and I couldn’t pass up being a part of the last class of MCA. Even more so being one of the last of I think two metals majors left.
What do you think MCA’s legacy will be?
I think MCA’s legacy will be about being THE school for some of the best creators to come out of. I hope they will have shows of all the work that has gone through there so people can see what amazingly talented artists went through the school and came out ready for the world. I want people to understand the community of artists that it helped produce here as well. Not many cities have a community of artists who more or less know each other and then work with each other after their graduation at MCA.
