I am a bewildered Generation Jones artist - BFA in graphic design from a mediocre college - graduated in 1988 (now Kendall / Ferris U). It was Kendall College then, with a somewhat better rep just prior.. The college had a president who happened to be in the throes of dementia (many of us witnessed seeing her, walking along on the city sidewalks, talking to herself and nobody else. That happened after we were registered students that year, all of us wondering - WHAT is going on here? It was the first red flag as we were all quite perplexed over this). The concept of a new (old) building seemed pretty great - take the campus downtown, where culture could be more dominant. A vibrant resurgent culture was a thing we wanted as art students, of course! In reality, it didn't happen until MANY years (or decades) later. In the Reagan Recession '80's, there wasn't enough money to revitalize urban areas in Michigan, despite the fact that good old Gerry Ford was still around. He got his presidential museum. I visited. It was predictable. I remember that many of us admired Betty, somewhat more (BF Center). Still, that was about all that Grand Rapids obtained, that was new, aside from De Vos Hall and an complete renovation of the Pantlind Hotel, an Amway gathering spot, renamed, "Amway Grand Plaza." Otherwise, urban blight was all around. It wasn't until many years later that Amway showered benevolence upon Grand Rapids. I certainly don't criticize that as it was a LONG NEEDED AND WELCOME change. However, back in the mid to late '80's, Downtown Grand Rapids was still full of vacant and dilapidated buildings in the area, but for the new "City Centre" that later went out of business (a downtown mall within the old Herpolsheimer's / Wurzburg building). Kendall students hosted the grand opening of City Centre. It was a bust. I so admire Dr. Eberle for calling that out. she said, "how can you create a NEW center in a town that has vacant buildings all around it?" She was spot on. City Centre didn't last long. I frequented the place between classes (just down the street on Division) and was sad to realize that there just wasn't enough activity - many newly renovated shops remained vacant - newly refurbished rooms, ready for commercial enterprise, that never found an retail occupant. In those days, Grand Rapids still had plenty of bustling malls, perhaps too many; Woodland was the best of the three that had existed for some years. Rogers was barely hanging in and Eastbrook was losing stores. Back to the shiny new City Centre, the glass elevator was impressive, but was unable to show any kind of shine, glitter, or glamor of a NEW and bustling mall. It went out quickly. As Dr. Eberle mentioned, to some degree, this building was a huge monolith, dominating a declining downtown area. I believe that it was the best move when the police department took it over- 1 Monroe Center - when there were STILL MANY vacant buildings downtown and on Main St. (Monroe). Like Kendall, De Vos Hall, the art museum (just starting to grow), and The Grand Plaza Hotel, it was a start. Look at it now? The old city museum was around but nothing like it is today. 35 years after I left, nobody would know that downtown GR was struggling. I MOST appreciate the fact that Grand Rapids had the foresight to keep their architectural history alive (as far as I know). After people agonized and PROTESTED the teardown of the beautiful old courthouse in the downtown square (it does and always will feel like a hole is there, like something isn't right) There are still beautiful Victorian era buildings all around this re-built, mundane linear structure in the center of it all. Yes, GR had the Calder sculpture, that they are lucky to have, but again, even with that, downtown will always have that hole. At least the residents rallied together to maintain the beautiful mansions in Heritage Hill. If I remember correctly, Grand Rapids was one of the first cities that enforced regulations in terms of altering or tearing down Victorian buildings / mansions, as a result of the anger over the courthouse removal - much protest over that in the early '70's. I think that Allegan also followed this trend, as many there were devastated when their courthouse got ripped out - leaving not just a hole in their small community but replacing it with a poorly designed building - NOTHING that could make that city whole again. I do believe that Grand Rapids was one of the first cities (again, early '70's) to lead the way in making historic preservation a priority. They set the example for other major cities, within the country, to make preservation a priority (still, I'm not sure if the were the first or among the first).

In 1984, (again, the very start of the new renovation in the Kendall building) students were forced to endure construction surrounding them, on a daily basis in said structure. I wondered, and still do, if asbestos and lead painted wall removal AROUND US, were being removed while we were attending classes (with some, NOT all, lame ass professors accepting the ongoing procedure). Most of them just went along with the side effects of the ongoing wall / paint removal around us - the noise, and MOSTLY THE LACK OF VENTILATION that we endured each and every day, much of it during the winter season. WE paid. The profs wanted their paychecks, even though I distinctly remember how irritated they were about such practices. I can tell you, the students had no choice. I don't know what we were breathing in during the winter months. I remember meeting up with construction workers on a regular basis in the stairwell (as I didn't always take the elevator - often a bit shaky and slow). I must reiterate, there was NO ventilation. In the later spring, when weather was warm, we were often covered in sweat and often felt an urgent need to escape from the dust and humidity in the air, in any given room. How much of that did we ingest?

We hoped we were bringing in the new (prematurely theory) that as a student body; naively thinking that the Freshmans of '84 (the first year in a new urban location, in looked like a great old building, right in the heart of town). I guess somebody had to do it but it did very little and cost us quite a bit.. We were led to believe that perhaps (such as being the hosts of the failed City Centre) we could help the revitalization (however meager it seemed to be). It was too early on all fronts and we had a president with dementia. The dean of students was told to give any number of lies and pep talks. Kendall is right across the street from the Grand Rapids Art Museum and at that time, ithe museum was nothing more than what you would expect from any art museum in a dying city. Years later, it's quite a thing, of course! Art Prize! The amazing upgrade of the GR Museum! The HUGE Van Andel Arena! New and better small business' could finally enter in, All of this came with hefty DeVos and Van Andel / Amway contributions. I only wish I could have participated in all of that, AFTER the mid '90's. Still, not sure how much more I would have obtained from the money spent on a Ferris run Kendall College.

Yes, in those mid' 80's days, we thought we were A-OK as we were accepted into a previously well regarded art college. I wouldn't trade my 4 years for anything - ALL because of the GREAT teachers that I had - the ONLY REASON. Still, in many cases, acceptance occurred in larger numbers, all for the money - all to cover construction overrun costs.. Even though, I worked hard and excelled, I was just a student who could provide $$ to their downtown project, when it and I started, in 1984., it was also the first year of the big move from the small, more intimate campus, to the building on Division Ave. Little did I know that my money was be used for the projected remodel costs = the Kendall move. Eventually, many of us realized how used we were. It seems that the Ferris merger hasn't made this college much better, all of these years later. Inflated tuition costs, little in the way of graduate placement in the majors they offer. Many grads feel resentment and bitterness toward the con-artist tactics that STILL take place at this place. Kudos to those of us who carved out something on our own, without the help of that administration.

I was lucky to have teachers that, in that first year move (1984) came from the old, more well regarded and close-knit campus on College Ave. We did receive SOME education from those carry over experienced and dedicated teachers, (however brainwashed some of them were to pump out false promises - sad and pathetic for them and ultimately, us), before it went south. They remained. They needed their jobs.

Along with others, about 1/2 of an over paid for semester was useless. Although the lab did obtain state of the art MacIntosh computers (1984 and later) and I was able to take that 1984 "class." The "teacher" was nothing more than a GVSC (GVSU now) computer tech. There was SO little we could do with a huge mouse and huge pixels on MacDraw and MacPaint at that stage; "learning" was just maneuvering the mouse on the table - logo design had jagged edges. Said idiot who "taught" us how to use the equipment actually stole my final presentation assignment idea - a promo for the jazz station, currently airing AT Grand Valley (his main place of employment), to go from a part time student experimentation (a few days a week, limited hours. back then) to become "24 Hour Jazz - 88.5." Although at the time, I thought it was a nice coincidence, I later realized that the dimwit took my idea back with him to his main place of employment. I'm sure he got pats on the back for my idea. Also, the lowlife gave me a "C'" in that class (for that final presentation), bringing my grade average down. From the start of said contemporary computer class, I didn't like that guy; I tried but just didn't like his style, his so-called teaching methods. After all, he really wasn't a true teacher. He was nothing more than a computer tech. Later on, I had more than my share of dealing with those who loved to call themselves "computer techs" when they knew so little. So little that I had to tell them how substantially less than eve I knew, while they were getting paid, by their repair stores. I must add, a couple of those "repair" stores are now out of business; this particular one went out YEARS ago. Of course, everyone wanted to be computer experts when Microsoft programs were awful (Vista - I still have nightmares).

Still, I paid for that pre-internet "class" and had to go through the motions. OMG, thanks, dementia president, learning about MacIntosh, with MacPaint and MacDraw, wasn't too hard to figure out on one's own. However, it was another "class" that I over paid for. I've met plenty of humourless Narcissists, and this guy was one of the worst. I had one other little man as a teacher at Kendall, who was nothing more than a soul crusher, a complete miscognist. He hated his job and took it out on those he chose to ignore and treat poorly. For some reason, he hated me - how dare I be enthusiastic re learning "Perspective?" I wasn't great at perspective but truly wanted more help. He refused to give it to me. He was a complete weasel - both figuratively and literally. I can't stand thinking about him to this day. Kendall ALWAYS wants alumnis to come back and wax eloquent. Why would I do that, knowing that these dirtbags affected me? I do believe (based on what I've heard) that Kendall is nothing more than a rip-off college.

Thanks to my great teachers, came close to a nearly perfect A average, all 4 years. Truly good art colleges wouldn't allow little men to continue teaching. This one probably just didn't want to pay them enough (as I'd heard from a couple of them).

After I graduated, with good grades. I continued to worked in a factory (Planter's Life Savers), that paid decent wages, while searching for a job. All of the men that interviewed me for a job, decided that I wanted too much (just a bit more than minimum wage. which at that time, was just prior to the 1990 minimus of $3.80 and hour. Those places didn't like the hike. Furthermore, after I called my dean of students at Kendall, wondering if I could ever get a break, he said, "you'll never make what you are getting where you work (Life

Savers / Breath Savers dept,) unless you are fortunate enough to become an art director, in Chicago. Perhaps you can do that. It's all I can tell you." He was the *** that was finally able, just over a year later, that Kendall wouldn't help me. I was on my own and lucky to be making that local union factory money. Thanks to all of the administration money takers at Kendall,, and after all of the work that I put in, I was immediately reduced to just another student who wanted more than a job, (many of who were forced to design GENERIC labels for Perigo - THEY WERE SO INCENSED).

After all, I was an older woman (30), who wanted a fairly decent wage. In the West Michigan area; forget that. Back then, creative design was mediocre at best. I know, I looked around constantly and still do. Now that computers do everything, I so see signage and logos, etc., that have better design qualities. Most graphic / advertising design, in this area, is still pretty bland. MANY signs are hard to read, have logos that are run-of-the-mill, or terrible colors and composition. Places that have more money, seem to be smart enough to pay for professional logos and signage, which is better than the do-it-yourself cheapskate days of the '70's to quite frankly, to the present, (in many cases). SO MANY SIGNS are just not good. SO MANY logos are mediocre. The most important thing that I learned from my thesis class, is that SO MANY people THINK that they know enough. I'll tell you this, they aren't. LOOK at any signs on the road that are hard to find. LOOK at logos that are nothing more than bad copycat versions, derived from something else. In the ad world, it's all pathetic. Still, small business' SAVE so much $$ by doing what they don't do best - making their own signs and logos.

In the late '80's, men running little art departments or agencies, just wanted scut job workers. Some did tell me that they were impressed with my portfolio but then, didn't call me or return calls. In those days, computers were in their infancy - scanners just became a thing in my final year ('88 - just after most of us spent weeks standing in line for ONE Xerox copy machine - needed for sizing letters and images; pathetic) and with all of my student debt, I could afford one or a computer - new tech high prices). I decided to go freelance but hell, doing freelance for clients, by hand was so time consuming, that it was stupid. Potential clients didn't have to pay anything. They could take your ideas and use parts of them for themselves, never having to pay. I kept remembering how one talented artist, in my thesis class, came up with a trademark/logo for a major dept. store. They used it SO much, back in the '80's and '90's, that even Applause made PVC figurines and stuffed toys. Did he get enough money for that? I doubt it. Kendall charged SO much for tuition, (that some grants did cover - luckily, I got them after the first year, due to grades) that one could find themselves in debt immediately. I did receive loans, at 8%. They didn't cover much. As I remember, it was about $4,000. a year - again, at 8%.

There were several great teachers though, I must say; especially my Art History teacher, Dr. Suzanne Eberle. She gave so much too so many and she inspired students until she retired in 2020. We were all blessed with not only her classes but with her knowledge and teaching skills). Partially due to what I learned from her and several awesome design teachers, my knowledge was heightened as an antiques & collectibles collector. Later, I became a dealer / reseller born out of compulsion to collect things but also having what I learned from Dr. Eberle's classes. I took all the ones she offered, all that I possible could. She offered history of architecture, furniture, ancient art, modern art, fashion, and more. She was tough, requiring intense attention and note taking and term papers had to have proper English (she was also well versed in languages). Since her enthusiasm was contagious, we wanted to learn.As they say, "if you only had one good teacher..." I had a few at Kendall but she was the the very best; ANY college or university would have been LUCKY to have her. I'm sure she left a large hole in the Kendall faculty dept. Many people, throughout the decades, admired and loved her so very much!

Hiking and walking is fun and necessary and gives me motivation to capture images. I watch 4-5 star rated movies and many documentaries. I especially like to read non-fiction and observe the realities of the world around me, however disheartening it can be. Unfortunately, for the last 5 years, I've been hyper tuned into any and all political and financial (economic) news; I try to keep up with it all but still, try to limit my exposure to social media - it's exhausting.

ANY kind of great creativity is great and worth any bit of consideration. I am a "Gen Joneser," post-'54 Boomer. I went to college in my mid-20's. This leads me to relate much more, in general, to Gen-X people but I am also impressed with Millennials. I'm never critical of Gen Z, in the least. Perhaps they were buried in digital media, but who made that happen? Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were Boomers, ultra rich ones at that. The internet is awesome to us. I love Gen Z; perhaps they don't use it all, but they have almost any information potential in one click. It is too sickening that they have lifelong "higher education" debt. Ivy league universities charge an enormous amount to inform young people about things that are free to learn on the internet. Ivy league and other universities, who make students pay FAR too much for their (often mediocre services and classes) should be banished. Many younger people are clear minded, despite what their elders want to bitch about.. For the most part, I think younger people are great.

I'm disappointed with my older Boomer co-horts ('46-'54), who just seemed to become too entitled or indifferent to issues that in the famous late '60's, began to wane in the early to mid '70's (despite Nixon's EPA, nothing else that they espoused came to fruition). Many, in the upper classes, who vociferously protested the war and were able to attend college, slipped into Yuppie mode (make money - get and MBA - Wall St. brokers and later, CDO engineers). After the Vietnam war ended (4 years after Johnson wanted to end it, and Nixon pulled his stunts, partially to get re-elected, never mind how many thousands more died and were held in MIA/POW camps and were tortured), THEY let NIXON become president, in '68 and '72. How do they explain that turn of events? They can't. Early (again former hippie attention seekers AND former anti-establishment warriors) wormed their way into the early '80's, a period that became the recessionary Reagan era. As long as they stayed on top and raked in the dough, the rest of us went begging, many of us at their mercy, for decades to come. It is nothing less than tragic for those throngs of idiots who presented themselves as game changers.. Suddenly, their hippie pasts were erased (as they wanted it to), all throughout the '80's and '90's.

For the Jonesers, who were wildly exposed and somewhat influenced by their older siblings, cousins, etc., we were taken aback when it just seemed to end, suddenly. What happened to their causes? So many of them were "blowing in the wind" as Dylan succinctly put it. Where were we supposed to land, after their idealism just dissipated? Jonesers were left to witness the return of Vietnam War veterans, who were spit on at airports, Watergate and the insanity of a truly criminal enterprise in Washington, the Nixon resignation, the tapes, and the realization that all of it was a huge money grab from the top on down. Then, we get Gerald Ford? I lived next door to Grand Rapids. He was the biggest yes-man the Republicans had. Now there is a museum. I've been there. It's 30 minutes from my home. Suddenly, the radical hippies jumped ship and for YEARS, tried to blend in with the mainstream. I never appreciated that. I still resent what they truly did NOT represent. Unfortunately, teenagers / young people of the late '60's just wanted attention. They got it. Most of it was phoney and later Boomers - Gen Jonesers knew it. Many of use prefer to be in the Gen-X group as they had to share the abandonment of what became a mockery; their reflection of society is only what suited their purposes. As early Boomers, many Dads (GI Bill - returning vets from WWII) had newfound wealth and bestowed it upon those born between '46 and '54. Many of them were privileged and didn't even know how much. Most of their later born siblings looked ups to them as we thought, "Oh, we want to be that cool."

Although I was younger, I vividly remember the Beatles, JFK assassinations, the Vietnam War,, racial tensions, MLK assassination - all of it. My mom was well liked by almost everyone (especially kids). She was acutely aware of social issues, She well read and informed, in such a brilliant way. She made SURE that I was also well informed about current events and everything that was confusing about society, even though I was young. Before she married and moved to West Michigan, she came from the segregated St. Louis area. In the early 1950's, she was able to take on a job that proved her to be an excellent secretary / typist, who worked for a U.S Army Sargent in the huge medical records building. This is where she met my father, a cryptology specialist in the army. He had a 2 year stint. They married in St. Louis, in January of 1957. After his stint in the army, he was free to move and they both came back to his home town - Holland, Michigan. Although she experienced a great deal of culture shock, she learned to adapt. I really don't know how she did that. I really don't.

Later, Dad became a computer programmer and later, a computer systems analyst). After I was born, they both realized that I was observant and curious. If home-schooling existed, back in those days, I would have learned 10X more that what I learned the waste of time that consisted of mundane teaching from several grades; with crusty OLD school marm teachers that I had to endure in my formative years. They were awful and ignorant and dominated in what was considered one of the best schools in my area.

I had ONE fabulous teacher in grade school - Mrs. Thomas (and her student teacher, Miss Thompson) She changed my world. I should mention that in that grade school, I was co-orced (by my mom) to transfer into a 1/2 year of another smart gal - loved her too (MrsMoel) but didn't get to have her for long,.The principle, MRVArk, who bowed down to the long time member of the union and a dominant (however abusive) teacher who was offended and insisted on having me back in her full 3rd grade class. He was a craven, yellow-bellied man. Because he deferred to her, I was exposed, once again, to that horrible woman. She loved it. She continued to intimidate me. However, by that time I was lucky that my mom, a well liked lunch mother, did what she could to monitor that woman's every move, assignments and otherwise. My mom was the only thing that kept that woman at bay and somewhat less intimidating. Mom was my hero.

Until I reached the 5th grade, when Mrs. Thomas realized that I was somewhat special (an new IQ test was taken, and I wasn't as fearful as I was when the IQ test was administered in the first part of 2nd grade, under old lady, abusive MissVDyke. My score went up substantially (fear is always a factor under nasty teachers) and a second test scored higher. When my wonderful Mrs. Thomas treated me as an intelligent kid, my grades went up substantially. What does that tell you?

The OLD school dimwit teachers, who for some reason, didn't like me, treated me like a total dimwit and they loved it. Passive-aggressive treatment was their specialty. This happened all while they sucked up to kids who had wealthier families or who knew how to ace the boring assignments that we were fed and had to digest - of course, they loved the ongoing attention. The whole system was something that I couldn't digest - it was abhorrent. There was NOTHING creative about said assignments and some quite generic or biased.

Three of the WORST old ladies, should have retired, well before I came along. One was a bit younger, but mentally abusive (she had obvious issues that were projected onto targeted kids, (a few like me), and along with her equally Narcissistic "student teacher" my kindergarten class was a nightmare. They were horrible, women - loved to do spankings and "sit on the stool" or back room things and were terribly verbally critical and abusive. My kindergarten teachers scared me so much, that I would just watch the clock, every day. Perhaps, Mrs. Treg, and my (1/2 2nd grade, split level class and later full class in 3rd grade teacher), Miss VanDyke, found some kind of pleasure in their lives after they finally retired, before leaving this earth. I actually had Mrs Treg's husband as a teacher in jr. high - he was a NICE man, with a mild manor, a good communicator. I did well in his 7th grade class. I remember her storming into his classroom one day, with her aggressive and showy manor, while he was teaching. All I could think was, "oh my gosh, you poor man!" I know that the BEST teachers are among the BEST human beings and should be respected AND PAID WELL. BAD teachers should be FIRED, if they lack empathy and have mediocre skills. THAT is the real problem. It's NEVER been an easy issue. With their tenure and secured positions within the unions, some of our kids get stuck with such idiots. Everyone wants to talk about how great teachers are and there are some great teachers. Unfortunately, they are lumped in with the ones who are sub-standard.

My 6th grade teacher only acted interested in me but he wasn't. His mother left him an inheritance so I later learned. Looking back, it certainly seems that way. Teachers who did have money were often people who were passing time, wanting to be amongst young people but not really understanding all that teaching entails. They ALWAYS had favorites. The rest of us were well aware of who their favorites were. Pathetic.

Mom was a lunch mother and kept an eye on the teachers; she was friendly with them. Still, after finally being elevated in 5th grade, my 6th grade teacher just wanted to be popular and well liked with all of the kids. I was left in the background, once again. In later years, I ran into him often, as he was quite the antiquer. Since he was always friendly with my Mom, I had to be friendly with him. Boy, did he ever take every opportunity to re-write history (late '90's and beyond) about his relationship with me, as his student (late '60's). I went along with his phony bit. Why, I don't know.

Later, I rebelled in junior high and high schools, not really knowing why - just looking for some kind of approval from the kids or whatever. I had sub-par grades but did well enough in art and English classes to get through it all. Also, with my mom's help, I learned how to type quite well and was able to obtain a co-op job at the local newspaper. In senior year, I made a better attempt to get somewhat better grades again, just so that I could graduate. I liked jr. high but for the most part, hated high school. I loved one art teacher in 10th grade (who tragically died) and later got stuck with another complete idiot of an art teacher. I got through his classes but never liked him, in the least.

After that, I drifted from one experience to another; some relationships were interesting but most ended up being a crash and burn. I prefer being with animals. Picture taking is therapeutic; I loved it since I received my first camera - a Vintage Kodak Hawkeye Green Instamatic R4, in the late 1960s, that Mom obtained from saving coupons! I took many pics with that thing and later, received a basic Cannon 35MM for a graduation present. I LOVED them and love taking pics from random places. Many years later, I took two photography classes in college - among my favorite classes. I'm not a pro but have been taking thousands of photos for years and hope that I have something to offer here.

Thank God for those who truly have a good eye and good taste - NOT everyone who thinks they have it, has it. They may thing they do, but for the most part, many just don't, regardless of what they think, what design firm they align with, or how much they get paid (for however long). They could and would say that about me as well, but I don't care. Too many interior designers make a lot of money informing "clients" who need help, how to decorate. Many of us who have seen the results, in any income bracket, wonder how creatively challenged people get conned. SMH.

I so do appreciate the millions of wonderful photographs on this site - what a great way to see the world through the eye of the beholder! Many Americans do not understand the significance of preserving our culture, as it was, and many don't care. If I were a billionaire...! With accurate restorations, comes those innumerable chopped-ups, covered-ups or just plain screw-ups of any kind and all of it, the architectural heritage that reflects our society.