At the heart of Colorado Mesa University sits the Fine Arts building. Inside the building, imagination takes control. On the ceilings and in every corner, there are images sculptures. There are even interactive pieces, all created by students.
“It’s a lot more intense than people expect. It’s not a degree to just blow through,” junior graphic design major Dejan Jestrovich said. The department focuses on employability as well, teaching students about “developing ideas quickly and executing them well.”
The department can be highly selective regarding who can make it through their rigorous upper-division courses. According to the CMU webpage, on the department of Art and Design, students must pass an entrance exam and submit a formal portfolio comprised of pieces from several 200-level classes to continue to upper-division courses.
“The work you’ve done outside of school is especially important; it just shows you’re going above and beyond. It’s basically making sure you’re serious,” said Jestrovich.
According to Jestrovich, the acceptance rate varies. He speaks about his program, graphic design, specifically, and notes that “this last year, actually, not a lot people got in. But then again, the year before that, everybody got in. So it just depends.”
Despite the competitive entrance into the program, the friendships forged amidst the fire of the rigorous nature of the program stand strong.
“Even though there is a lot of pressure,” Jestrovich said, “there’s a lot of people that will have your back, whether it’s critiques or general encouragement.”
The program prides itself on stretching the boundaries of imagination, but Jesrtovich emphasized the department’s ability to train employable artists.
“If you want a lot of money consistently from it, you’re going to get a job where people pay you to do work for them,” Jestrovich said.
Jestrovich entered the program in 2010. At first, he chose graphic design because he had to choose something.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do,” Jestrovich said. He left CMU for five years, and came back in 2015. “Now, I’m basically only doing graphic design classes and I love it. I think it’s perfect. I had no idea it was the perfect thing when I first chose it.”
Jestrovich works as a designer of CMU’s Literary Review. He is in charge of layout, sidework, logos and posters.
“I encourage students to submit more artwork alongside their literary work for publication,” Jestrovich said.
There is an art trip during the 2018 J-term.
“It counts as an art history credit, it’s 10 days in France and Italy going to different museums and checking out different art,” Jestrovich said. Professor Suzie Garner and head of the art department will lead the trip. For more information regarding the art department, there is a schedule of the student exhibits at the 437CO Art Gallery, listed on the CMU website.
