JBU senior Mackenzie Weiss’ dream of studying abroad in Northern Ireland came true last fall with JBU’s Irish Studies Program when she had the opportunity to put her artistic talents to the test — as a business-degree student.
When she took Irish Arts and Culture, a course taught by esteemed Northern Irish artist Ross Wilson, she learned just how much passion she has for the arts.
“Every class period, we piled our sketchpads on the table, and Ross went through each one and showed our sketches to the class,” Weiss said. “For the first class, we drew Aslan, the lion from C.S. Lewis’ 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’ Ross opened my sketchpad to my drawing and said, ‘Wow.’”
As a double major in management and entrepreneurship, Weiss hadn’t taken art classes at JBU. But in Northern Ireland, under Ross’s instruction, she says she began to fall in love with the beauty and process of art.
“As much as I enjoyed art in high school, I never entertained the idea of studying it in college. Ross challenged me to pick up my pencils and paintbrushes again and let my imagination take over.”
At the end of the semester, Ross brought a souvenir to class to remind students of their time together. To Weiss’ surprise, Ross had taken pictures of two of her sketches and had prints made for each student in the class.
After returning to the U.S. with new confidence, Weiss registered for two JBU art classes.
“Ireland is full of breathtaking scenery and rich history, but the gem of the country was the amazing people I met there,” says Weiss. “When people ask me what my favorite part was, I tell them about my class with Ross Wilson.”