Individualized Learning Stories
Enhancing Her Skills
Annie Raccuglia '12 and Professor Ben Rinehart
Annie Raccuglia '12 is always looking — at the people, the places and the things that surround her. This continuous curiosity is where the studio art major finds the inspiration for her creativity — and with paintbrush in hand she gracefully coaxes the colorful images to life on canvas.
These days she's turning her passion for portraiture into an independent study project with Assistant Professor of Art Ben Rinehart. "I've had a couple of painting classes with Professor Rinehart," said Raccuglia. "This is evolving from that." In fact, this is the second independent study project she's done at Lawrence. Her first, completed last year, resulted in a solo exhibition of chalk drawings at Lawrence's Mudd Gallery.
The Chicago native followed siblings Clare '07 and Peter '09 through the doors at Lawrence, but initially planned to stay only two years before transferring to the Art Institute of Chicago. However, it wasn't long before she changed her mind, choosing the more nurturing, individualized attention she could get at Lawrence over the more competitive atmosphere in Chicago. "Lawrence has just been a really good place for me," Raccuglia said. "I'm comfortable in the community, I don't feel restricted, I appreciate the resources and spaces here, and especially my relationships with my professors."
And that, said Rinehart, is the true spirit of what an independent study project is all about. "We build a relationship with students through the natural curriculum and then if they do have something specialized that they want to do, they can do that outside of the curriculum; if they want to enhance their skills in a specific medium they can do that by working one-on-one with the instructor, whether it be a tutorial, directed study or independent study."
For Raccuglia, the culmination of this independent study is another exhibit at the Mudd. As far as the future goes, Raccuglia said she'd love to continue painting and to eventually become an art teacher herself.
"She has a mastery of her process and the craft," said Rinehart. "And that's all I can hope for as an instructor."
