Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Reeve. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I think the one risk that got me to where I am today is my decision to apply for the Design school at NC State halfway through college. I started at NC State University in Environmental Science because I had the grades and the expectation that I would be in STEM. I told myself every single day that I would be happy putting my art on the side. That I could just draw in my off time, or grow my skills individually. Though, after about 8 months of waking up every day dreading going to class, I started to learn that society’s expectations of me do not have to be my expectations for myself.

I distinctly remember the time I called my parents and said that I wanted to try for the art major in my university, and they said that they just wanted me to learn and be happy. This was the first time I really felt that I had control over the course of my life. I had not even taken an art class in high school, but I was certain this was right for me.

It was kind of a miracle I got into the College of Design. I was told by my college counselor several times to not get my hopes up and to have a plan B. But I tried anyway, and I am so glad I did. Being able to learn in a structured environment was really helpful, and allowed me to learn so much more than I would on my own. Looking back, a shift in major was not nearly as big of a risk as I perceived, but I learned something very important for all artists: how to have agency in your own life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Laura Reeve, a recent NC State University graduate from the College of Design. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Art & Design, and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship. I have a lot of skills from 2D art to programming, but I focus on game design, technical design, and technical art. Currently, I am working on job searching and improving my skills.

A lot of my passion and work is focused on connecting to and supporting the people around me. So much of who I am and what I do is based on the support of others, and finding ways to give back is deeply important to me. In college, I helped set up and run the Autistic and Neurodivergent Student Alliance, a club for Neurodivergent students run by Neurodivergent people. I also was a College of Design student senator, and did treasury work both for the aforementioned club and our University’s chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH. My student job was touring high schoolers around the College of Design and sharing about our programs, helping them figure out their own artistic paths.

Art is rarely individual for me anymore. I hope, wherever I end up after college, I am able to connect to people, help solve their problems, and work in the mediums I love.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think, in whatever I am doing, my main goal is to find ways to support others the way others supported me. I think society sometimes believes creatives, designers, artists, etc. are all individual people who succeeded because they had the most tenacity and skill. And sometimes, that is true. But at least for me, I know my tenacity and skill was fostered by the people around me. I hope, in whatever I do, that some part of my work focuses on giving back. My dad has a phrase he regularly brought up when I was young about how he wants me to stand on his shoulders and his experience instead of starting from rock bottom. So many people in my life have let me learn from them, and I hope one day I can do the same for others.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Growing up with a strong focus in STEM classes and programs, art to me was defined by the paintings in museums that I hated going to. The lesson I learned while growing up is that art just was not necessary for real life. I ‘did art’ as a hobby and knew others made a life out of it. But ‘doing art’ was always right next to ‘starving artist’ and ‘useless’ in my mental dictionary. Even when I knew I wanted to go into Art & Design at NC State, I still believed in my narrow view of art. It took me years to fully understand how much art is around all of us.

I sit on a couch, sculpted to meticulous detail by an industrial designer, wearing clothes designed by a multitude of clothes makers, typing on a computer that has a graphic interface designed by UI artists. It is easy for me to forget the hands that made my environment when I never met them. But their influences are in everything around me. There is something comforting in knowing that the things around you are made by experienced hands who not only delivered a final product, but know exactly why the final product is designed the way it is.

Nowadays, I don’t think I could make a definition for art that encapsulates everything that art is, and everything that artists do. But I now know how integral art and artists are to life, and how dated misunderstandings about art and artists have kept people from pursuing their interests. That’s not to say all art has an external purpose. A painting can’t help you brush your teeth. But I think wherever there is a need being met–external or internal–a human designer or artist is close behind.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.lreeve.myportfolio.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurareeve
• Other: Cara – @laurareeve