By Justin Knight
For the News-Tribune
What to do with the rest of your life is the biggest question most people ever are faced with. But for one college student, a collaboration of grassroots support and a lifelong dream helped her decide.
Laura Amtower, 20, of Lavale, Md., is a sophomore enrolled in West Virginia University’s art education program. This five-year program offers a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree with a certification to teach.
Amtower, who did not take her first collegiate painting class until last semester, aspires to one day be able to share her passion for art with others as a college professor.
While she may only be taking general education classes, Amtower has expressed that it was her first painting class that ignited the final spark that lit her fiery passion for art education.
“As soon as I took that painting course, I knew that was what I wanted to do,” she said. “I’m the kind of person that immediately knows what they want and does whatever it takes to achieve it.”
Amtower’s artistic interests did not appear as college student, but rather as a kid growing up in Keyser.
Amtower, a 2007 graduate of Keyser High School, attributes her desire and willingness to continue her studies of art at the college level to some of her high school teachers.
“Mr. (Terry) Rotruck and Mrs. Broadwater were huge influences on me and my decision to propel forward. Mr. Rotruck really goes the extra mile and almost over-prepared me for my future classes,” said Amtower. “It wasn't until my first formal art class in high school that I realized I could channel all that creativity into something awesome.”
Throughout her high school career, Amtower would carefully watch how her teachers dealt with situations and interacted with the students.
“I’m a careful observer, and pay close attention to things,” she said.
Along with high school, growing up with her family in a close-knit town like Keyser has also shaped Amtower’s inspiration for art.
“You definitely have to know who you are, what you believe in and where you come from,” she said.
“I am the way I am because of my two wonderful brilliant parents. They are about simplicity and are also do-it-yourself kind of people,” she said. “They have always told me my entire life that I should be an art teacher.”
Amtower is also a strong believer in “doing it yourself.” This may be because she, along with the rest of her family, built their family home from the ground up.
“The five of us designed it, cleared the land which was in a forest, dug the foundation, built every wall frame, did all of the electrical work, plumbing, everything ... which took several years,” she said.
Amtower’s brother Steve, 28, who works as a school counselor for Senseny Elementary School in Winchester, Va., has always thought very highly of Laura’s work, creativity and her desire to teach.
“I think she’ll be excellent at it,” he said. “She works hard at it, and she enjoys doing it.
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Steve recalls that while Laura had only taken four art classes before graduating high school, her ability at that level was astonishing to him.
“I was amazed in high school at what she was able to do just with that little bit of schooling,” he said.
Steve believes that Laura has found where she belongs in the world.
“I think it will be something that she will enjoy for the rest of her life, and will be very rewarding for her,” he said.
Growing up in a religious family and being heavily involved with her church has also greatly influenced her art according to Laura.
“I am in total awe of God’s creations,” she said. “It‘s what fascinates me the most. And I think that growing up in Keyser definitely affected all of this.”
Even at a young age, Amtower was extremely creative.
“As a child, I would always create my own toys and toy worlds out of just random things,” she said.
“For example, I would just create worlds for my Barbies out of everyday objects, but combine them all. A chapel for a wedding or something,” said Amtower.
She also demonstrated her creativity as a young girl by writing and illustrating her own children’s stories.
“I’ve always has a passion for drawing things,” said Amtower.
Steve believes that it is this creative mindset that makes her artwork special.
“Her ideas for things are always pretty hip,” he said. “She never seems to settle for a generic idea, and always puts sufficient thought into her work.”
As a student still in the first several years of WVU’s art education program, Amtower’s studio art classes at WVU include ceramics, painting and drawing.
“I have to learn every medium, which I enjoy,” she said.
Amtower is taking her second painting course, which involves both still life and figure models, but with a more modern style. In addition to this, she is also taking an advanced drawing course.
“It’s drawing in any medium and it is very flexible with it’s subject matter,” she said.
She has taken to this aspect of drawing because she likes the concept of putting a face to a story.
“I really enjoy studying real things such as people, plants, animals, nature, so on and so forth,” she said.
Amtower finds rendering these types of subjects a challenge because she likes the story and personality of the object she is drawing to be reflected in her artwork.
In addition to finding a type of art that she finds enticing, taking studio classes that expose her to a different variety of artistic methods have also helped her decide what she may not be as good at.
“Sculpture is definitely not my thing,” she said. “But I ended up with some pretty fun pieces.”
Amtower will graduate from WVU’s art education program in 2012. She also expressed solid interest in furthering her education after graduation to receive a master of fine arts in painting to fulfill a lifelong dream of teaching.
“I plan on continuing my education to teach painting at a college level,” she said. “I get so much satisfaction from helping others achieve their goals.”
(Justin Knight is a journalism student at West Virginia University.)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —
