I started writing Artist Spotlight for The Stute as a biweekly columnist in the opinion section in September 2022 when I joined Stevens as an undergraduate in the Class of 2026. What many people don’t know is that Artist Spotlight was actually conceived in 2021, when I first started writing for my high school’s newspaper as a quarterly contributor. Unlike The Stute, my high school newspaper was primarily run by one of the educators working in our English language department — student staff were numbered, and publications were few and far between. I often reflect on a disagreement I had with this teacher, particularly concerning how seriously he took deadlines. I still remember saying, in a response to one of his emails, “Respectfully, this isn’t The New York Times.” While I’m certain they were well aware of this fact, I’ve learned that their frustration wasn’t misplaced. The level of coordination and effort that goes into producing a new issue of The Stute on a weekly basis is unfathomable from the outside looking in. Our writers, copyeditors, layout staff, business development team, section editors, managing editor, and editor-in-chief work like a well-oiled machine on a week-to-week basis to make sure that every Friday morning, a Stevens student can excitedly pick up a new issue of The Stute. I didn’t truly understand the complexity of this process until I became the editor of the Opinion section in March 2025, a title I will also soon leave behind.
When I initially started writing Artist Spotlight for The Stute, the working dynamic between an editor and a writer was still foreign to me. I saw our section editor simply as an entity that would occasionally materialize in my Slack inbox to remind me that—yet again—I had missed my submission deadline by upwards of 24 hours. At the time, I was still adjusting to the intensity of college academics and would frantically write all of my articles the night before they were due in the Davis first floor common room. My lack of time management skills—coupled with shifting interests and priorities—introduced a rather low point for my writing. I still had ideas for material and artists I was interested in writing about, but the format for Artist Spotlight was static: I would describe an artistic genre, introduce a related artist, speak about their significance, and then close out the article with an analysis of my favorite piece from their portfolio. Rinse and repeat. With time, I began to lose touch with the purpose of my column — submissions felt more like homework assignments than pleasurable creative pursuits. At the same time, I was rapidly growing as an artist, taking advantage of my newfound independence and school iPad to delve into the world of digital art. While digital art can lack a certain level of authenticity, I began to love just how forgiving it was, a factor which reignited an eager creativity that I hadn’t felt for a long time.
Towards the end of my sophomore year, an acquaintance from my fraternity mentioned that a friend of his—who happened to be one of my editors at the time—enjoyed my column, but was concerned about my late submissions. At first, it was certainly hard to hear, but with maturity, I progressively realized the importance of meeting deadlines — a message that I fear was lost on me as a result of my less-than-ideal experience with my high school newspaper. Proportionally, I was maturing as an academic, and my passion for engineering increasingly took over my interests. A more thorough approach to my schoolwork was suddenly accompanied by Artist Spotlight articles with heightened exposition, thematic exploration, and an improvised format. I feel this improvement is best reflected in articles such as “Revisiting Renoir in the age of excess”, “Outside the viewfinder: An observation of the pitfall of still life painting”,” A more human medium”, and “Silent Canvas: The misunderstood truth of the photorealist reality.”
In 2025, Artist Spotlight almost became ancient history! Let me tell you how I ended up reaching a milestone of over 40 Artist Spotlight articles for The Stute — spoiler: It was anything but a solo effort. Heading into senior year, I wasn’t sure if I was prepared to continue contributing to the opinion section. I had recently transitioned into the Opinion Editor position and was concerned about the additional workload I would accrue if I continued to maintain my column. By the end of the summer, we had yet to fill our final spot on the opinion staff, so I reluctantly agreed to continue writing, despite feeling what can best be described as senioritis. Thankfully, my new position as an Opinion Editor revitalized me! I owe most of this newfound energy to our editor-in-chief and managing editor—who entrusted me with the role of Opinion Editor and helped me during my most severe creative drought—as well as my amazing opinion writers whose dedication and creative spirit consistently reminded me of the impact of our section. Feeling trusted in this role gave me the confidence I needed to actively engage my writers, while simultaneously producing my best work in Artist Spotlight. This column and The Stute have been a defining aspect of my time at Stevens, and I will miss both equally. Wow this sucks, and I can’t believe I’m finally saying it: Goodbye Artist Spotlight, and thanks for tuning in!
