Alison Kleiman, an 18-year-old freshman at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, confessed to having signed up for her first photography class because she had a crush on the teacher. Although her passion for her instructor never panned out, her passion for photography flourished immediately.
In an interview this past summer, Kleiman, who attended Nicolet High School, explained that she has always “naturally gravitated toward art.” Her first class, a photography course at Camp Interlaken JCC, was her maiden voyage into a journey that has included countless classes at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Cardinal Stritch University and various summer art camps. “It didn’t take that long to figure out that I needed to go into art,” she said.
Kleiman is rarely seen without her camera and truly loves all aspects of photography. “With photography, I know there’s all the scientific reasons why silver chloride …helps the photo develop and why certain chemicals do what they do. But I do just love the pure magic behind all of it. Watching a photo develop, no matter how cliché this sounds, is just so amazing. I can really be in a darkroom for hours watching it….”
Kleiman, who has experimented with other media like origami, graphic design and jewelry, explained that, for her, “Art is a release … the generic thing of ‘I do art to let out my emotions’ works in reverse for me. I do art to discover my emotions.”
Although Kleiman is unsure of how she would like to spend her life, she has entertained the idea of earning a teaching certificate, and one of her main goals is to shoot a cover for Rolling Stone magazine.
“When it comes to careers lately, I’ve dubbed myself the ‘pursue your passion girl.’ I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t make art the focus of my life. It’s something I know I can put 110 percent of myself into.”
Drawings and paintings
Like Kleiman, Nicolet High School graduate Yonina Slyper is also a young artist. “I have always been an arts and crafts person,” explained Slyper, who uses charcoal, pastel, and acrylic and oil paints for her drawings and paintings.
As a young girl, Slyper enrolled in several art programs, and “basically took all the 2D art classes available at Nicolet,” she said in an interview last month shortly before leaving for study in Israel.
There Slyper attends Midreshet Ein Hanatziv, a girl’s yeshiva, which she said she will do for one to two years before she enrolls in college.
And regardless of how much she enjoys her art recreationally, Slyper expressed reservations about going into art professionally. “If I go into [art] for a living, I either have to sell lots of paintings and do well, or starve,” she joked. However, she is leaving open the possibility of pursuing a career in graphic design.
Slyper cites a “great feeling of accomplishment after finishing [a work of art]” as the main reason she enjoys art. “I guess I like creating something … it’s like your baby,” she explained. “It’s a hobby for me more than anything, but people enjoy it and it makes me proud.”
Slyper has won two art contests: her artwork appeared on the 2002 Wisconsin State Park vehicle admissions sticker as well as on a Marcus Theatres Poster for Education.
Shorewood High School graduate Adam Oknin has loved to draw for as long as he can remember. Although he prefers pencil, he also uses charcoal and conte crayon. He, too, however, said he will need to put his love of art on hold for a few years.
Oknin, who moved to Milwaukee from Israel almost four years ago, is both a U.S. and an Israeli citizen, and thus must serve two years and nine months in the Israeli army. He plans to work in Milwaukee this year until his 18th birthday, when he will be eligible for his army service. After his term of service, he wants to pursue a career in architecture. And when he’s not working this year, he said, “I’ll be drawing, absolutely.”
Oknin also took art classes at a young age and has been fascinated by the artistic world ever since. “I could do it all day…. I won’t even look at a clock, I could be at it for hours,” he said.
“When I draw it relaxes my mind and sets me free from all the trouble and all the people around me. I just focus on what I have to finish,” he explained.
Oknin, Kleiman and Slyper all seem invested in their work for life. As Kleiman explained, “Nobody should say they’re done taking classes or lessons…. I’ve already taken close to a dozen different types of classes and there is so much more I can still learn. It’s exciting.”
Although each of the three has charted a different direction for now, they all seem set to take on Picasso’s challenge that, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
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