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Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Hunter Atkins describes performance art as the \u201cpurest form of art,\u201d stating, \u201cIt only happens once in front of the audience and it\u2019s shared with the audience, and then it\u2019ll never happen again. And it\u2019s very\u2026 emotional and straight from the heart and it\u2019s unmonetized. So, nobody gains anything from it but the art.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hailing from Salem, Oregon, Atkin is currently a senior set to graduate in the spring. Atkin\u2019s craft is truly eclectic \u2014 he studies theater and has been involved in numerous straight plays on campus; he sings and dances; he also creates performance art. More recently, Atkin has been focusing on poetry and writing music. After graduation, the BFA student plans to move to a big city– such as Chicago or LA– to make his art a career.<\/span><\/p>\n Originally, Atkin came to Western to study nursing. The artist\u2019s sister was also enrolled in the nursing program, and that\u2019s part of the reason he enrolled. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was like \u2018Okay, nursing pays, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m going to like it, I\u2019m going to go for it.\u2019\u201d By the end of his freshman year, Atkin had auditioned for the BFA program.<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout his studies, Atkin has seen a lot of support for the arts. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(Western\u2019s programs) give us so many opportunities to do things we would never be able to do in the real world.\u201d Western funds a rehearsal space, workshops and improv coaches. A program called \u201c5 O\u2019Clock Shadow\u201d is also offered, which allows student artists to create their own shows. A rehearsal space is provided, as well as show dates and the performance space itself \u2014 the Black Box in Rice Auditorium.<\/span><\/p>\n It was difficult for Atkin to choose his favorite artistic project at Western, but he eventually chose his semi-recent performance art piece, \u201cLove.\u201d On his reasons behind this choice, Atkin responded, \u201cmy performance art is probably the thing I\u2019m most proud of because I wrote it all myself, start to finish, and I put a lot of myself in it and I was really vulnerable with the audience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n H<\/span>unter commented that the most salient lesson he\u2019s learned during his studies was experiencing rejection. Even when professors or other artists are giving criticisms that may feel hard to handle, \u201c…afterward when you work on the things that you really sucked at, it just feels like you\u2019re building yourself up. It\u2019s really cool to be able to do that in a safe space.\u201d Atkin believes that Western provides a safe environment in which artists can work on their craft, whereas the \u201creal world\u201d doesn\u2019t offer those same opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n Atkin\u2019s advice for first-year students? <\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2018\/10\/Spotlight-624x1024.jpg\")
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