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Art Student Field Guide: How to Trust Your Informed
Creative Self, Recognize Opportunities & Identify Challenges by Pat Benincasa Sentinel Printing Co.
book review by Elizabeth Loveland
"Whatever our task is, whether to create, design, illustrate, curate or direct, we do so in a social context, the world we live in."
This is a charming, creative book by artist and art teacher Pat Benincasa. The book is broken up into three main sections, termed books. Book 1 is titled "A Field Guide By Any Other Name," wherein Benincasa discusses why she chose to make a field guide and some things she considers basic for art students to consider and to contemplate. Book 2 is titled "Artists Story" and is a more retrospective section on living life as an artist. Book 3 is titled "Conclusion To Start With" and is primarily concerned with the idea of artist as citizen, discussing the responsibilities artists have to the society in which they live. This book is targeted towards American students, primarily discussing artists social responsibilities to American society in Book 3 and ending with a lengthy list of American art schools, organized by state.
Art Student Field Guide is more than its name may indicate; it is a thought-provoking read both for new art students and working artists. Benincasa mixes her personal story, stories about other artists and events, ponderings about the place of art and artists in the world, and specific activities for art students and artists that help them be more effective artists and more content people. This book is of interest to almost all art students and many artists. With an inspiring and offbeat feel, Benincasa's artwork and the artwork of others are carefully pasted onto some of the pages, along with sporadic pages that are blank except for the header "Notes to Self."