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Old and New, East and West
Jan. 28, 2009
By Katie Meier It's not every day that college students get an opportunity to study, research and work on pieces of artwork that are centuries old. It's even more rare to travel thousands of miles and see those pieces in person, but Amanda Smith has done that and a great deal more in less than three years at Lafayette. A Las Vegas native, which alone makes her unique on Lafayette's campus, Smith has traveled to parts of the country she never would have otherwise thanks to trips she has taken as a member of the women's basketball team. As an EXCEL scholar, she has been exposed to experiences that a majority of students are not. Oftentimes when people hear Smith hails from Las Vegas, that seems to be the only fact in which they're interested. And it certainly is a big part of who she is and made the process of choosing a college a difficult one. "I was really torn," the junior said. "I wanted to stay out on the West Coast and be close to home, but when I sat down to think about it, I knew I'd really get along well with this team. I had a lot of friends who had transferred in the past and one of my goals in selecting a school was that I didn't want to transfer, and I felt if I picked Lafayette that wouldn't happen." Her parents may have initially wished she had earned her education closer to home and while Smith jokes she's had to "grow thicker skin" since being out on the East Coast with its colder temperatures, both have found ways to overcome Smith's distance from home. Her parents make frequent trips to Lafayette games and her mother rarely comes without gifts for the entire team. One time it was leopard-print pillows so the girls and coaches could catch up on their sleep on long bus rides. Another visit she brought Playdough and sand castle molds so the team could "bury its opponent in the sand." Smith's teammates and coaches, who have nicknamed her "Vegas," are glad Smith, and her parents, recognized Lafayette was a good fit for Smith. She is having a career season, logging nearly 20 minutes of action per game and averaging three rebounds and four points per outing. The Leopards are enjoying a solid start to the season that includes a 7-1 record on their home court. But Smith is about a lot more than Las Vegas and basketball. A double major in Business and Economics and Art, she immediately dove into everything Lafayette had to offer, which, because of its size, affords students the ability to become involved with unique hands-on experiences. Her freshman year seminar, "In the Media," worked on the foundation for what would eventually become Lafayette's 2009 Election Night broadcast. The seminar produced a video that spoofed Mission Impossible to illustrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of negative campaigning. Since then, Smith moved on to work with professor Lew Minter, the director of the art department's media lab. It is with Minter that Smith has seen old and new come together right in front of her eyes. Smith is assisting Minter in digitally reconstructing works of historical artists such as Antonio Vivarini. A woman in Italy, Catarina Arcangeli, has been working specifically on reconstructing a Vivarini altarpiece, sections of which are damaged and scattered throughout the world. Arcangeli has sent photographs and x-rays to Smith and Minter who worked to put the pieces back together. Those pieces, once completed, will be shown in the Gemaldegalerie Museum in Berlin.
The pieces she had seen only through computer images came to life when she traveled to Italy this past summer with Diane Cole Ahl, Professor of Art History, and Rado Pribic, Williams Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The group of 26 students, including Smith, spent three weeks touring Rome and studying the artistic and literary culture of Italy. "I went to Italy through Lafayette," she said, "and even though it wasn't necessarily for my project with Professor Minter, I did get to meet Catarina while I was there and see a couple of pieces I had worked on." Smith's passion for art is obvious and she's taking advantage of every opportunity to soak up all the knowledge she can. New York City is only a short ride away from Lafayette's campus and Smith has taken several trips and seen everything from The Met, to NBC Studios and Broadway. Smith wants to remain involved in the basketball world after graduation, possibly as a coach. She also plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in advertising, and it was with that career goal in mind that she added her second major--Business and Economics. "My aunt is involved in the hospitality industry and she majored just in art," Smith said. "She said it would have really helped her to get the business aspect so I thought that adding business would be a smart thing to do." Academics are a priority for Smith, who takes a practical and mature approach to just about every aspect of her life. "Basketball is probably over for me once I graduate so academics are very important to me," she said. "My parents definitely wanted me to get good grades but it wasn't something I was pressured into. I realized early on that academics are important to get ahead in life and that was the choice I had made by coming to Lafayette."
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