"San Fran has drastically expanded my view of what the world can be."

Olivia Reinold '19 | Arts Entrepreneurship

Major | Graphic Design

Minor | Studio Art

Hometown | Sutton, MA

As I conclude my 8th day in the Lehigh Silicon Valley Program, I have come to realize just how much creativity lives within San Francisco. As a graphic designer and self-acclaimed color nerd, I walk around this city and its surrounding areas in awe of the liveliness bleeding from every outlet. From the boxy houses painted in beautiful and bright colors that run ever-connected up the hillsides to the incredibly open-minded and engaging people, San Fran has drastically expanded my view of what the world can be.

I am so grateful to be a part of the Arts Entrepreneurship Track within the LSV Program. It has provided me the opportunity to observe how those professionals working within the technology industry utilize creative thinking as well as more intimately interact with those whose work is creatively focused within the arts.

Today the Art’s Entrepreneurship students had a variety of performing-arts focused experiences. We toured through the backstage areas, dressing rooms, prop houses and production facilities of Calshakes Bruns Amphitheatre, Berkeley Rep and Roda Theatre. We also had the amazing experience of watching a rehearsal of Metamorphosis and a performance of Paradise Square. Although I do not have a career interest in the Performing Arts industry, I utilized these opportunities to actively seek out the aspects of their careers and lives that are relevant to my focus of graphic design.

While walking through the Berkeley Rep costume designer’s studio, I took note of the similarities between their brainstorming practices and my own. These took the form of color swatches, images and sketches posted to inspiration boards above their work spaces. I also loved studying the graphic posters that were hung in every space that we visited. Although the posters may have been of varied interests, I enjoyed the connection of expression that was linked in this way. And of course, I could not help but awe at the vibrant colors that surrounded me. From the costumes to the show posters to the rainbow-ordered thread in the costume shops and many more, color was exploding from everywhere.

San Francisco and the Silicon Valley have inspired me to adopt a new perspective on how creativity functions within businesses and workers. Specifically, those professionals within the arts community spoke so progressively and candidly about their core principals that I am reevaluating my own ideals and morals within my work. As I move forward to the future after LehighSiliconValley, I hope to continue the spread of color, community, open-mindedness and inspiration as these incredible men and women have.