Anna Guthrie, freshman art major and native of Jackson, has called Union home in some ways since she was little.
Her father, George Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible, drew her in to the Union community at an early age. She participated in Union’s children’s choir and later took piano lessons there. As she grew older, she befriended more Union students.
“I’m pretty sure I knew everything except for hall names,” Guthrie said.
The Guthrie family is all at Union this semester: her brother, Josh Guthrie, is a senior engineering major, and her mother, Pat Guthrie, is taking one of her father’s Christian Studies classes.
Guthrie was homeschooled all the way through 12th grade and attended a tutorial off and on during high school.
Her inspiration to pursue art came from her fulfillment in creating meaningful messages through her works as a way to speak to people.
“I’ve grown up with a lot of art major friends,” Guthrie said. “I always knew how much work they had and was like, ‘I’m not going to be an art major because they have no life, and they get no sleep.'”
This past summer Guthrie realized that despite art’s challenges and commitment, it was worth pursuing because it was what she truly loved.
Guthrie said the fact that she still enjoys art in college despite the challenges that come with it has been a confirmation that she is where she needs to be.
“It’s everything I thought it was, but I still love it,” she said.
The most rewarding part of her college career so far has been being able to construct major pieces of art. In high school, Guthrie said she did not have the patience or motivation to create large works.
“I never did really big projects,” she said. “While the big projects we’ve been doing have been seriously time-consuming and sometimes kind of painful, they’ve been very rewarding because at the end you have an actual piece of art.”
Her favorite artwork since being in college has been her first two-dimensional piece. The work is a poster-sized portrait of a woman constructed with achromatic torn paper, and it took over 30 hours for Guthrie to create.
Besides art, Guthrie enjoys coordinating events with her friends and reading. Her favorite books are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.
