GPI - Yumi Park Huntington, Professor of Art History

Courtesy of Yumi Park Huntington

By Liv Dunleavy Editorial Staff What is your academic and professional background? My academic background is art history, specifically focusing on ancient American art. But my dissertation is specifically focusing on the northern coast of Peru. The culture’s name is Cupisnique. … I focused on analyzing the ceramic vessels from the Cupisnique culture and the interpretation of all their head motifs. … That was my specialty. But at the same time, I also trained to teach Asian art in general. I also taught in various places, such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and also various community colleges. I also taught where I was working for my Ph.D. program, which was Virginia Commonwealth University. And also, I was a ceramics artist in Korea, because I studied ceramics in Korea, so I had a B.F.A - Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics - but I came to America to study art history. What drew you to Framingham State? I got my Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University, and I applied to two jobs: one in Grand Rapids, [Michigan] and the other in Jackson, Mississippi. And I got both jobs, but I decided to go to Jackson, Mississippi for my first job. So I got my tenure from there. It was a tenure-track position, so I was working there as an assistant professor and I became an associate. But I wanted to challenge myself. So I applied for the job in Framingham, and I got the job here. How was your transition to Framingham State? It was a big move and a big change, too, from the Deep South to Massachusetts. So the environment - interacting with faculty members - that type of environment had totally changed. And it’s not about the physical move. We are nomadic people, we’re always moving around. Nowadays, we hardly stay in one place. But it was a pretty big move in terms of the learning curve and the different environment and freedom of how I want to teach. The pedagogical approach was a big change for me. It was really helpful for me to change my working environment, and I’m very, very happy about my decisions. What inspired your passion for fine art? The reason I majored in ceramics is due to the texture of clay. I love to handle the soft clay, and when I'm looking at the metamorphose way of changing ceramic, it's incredible. It’s a soft and watery substance, and suddenly, it becomes this solid form, and after baking it in the kiln, it becomes an extremely strong material. When I’m seeing that change of texture and material, it just fascinates me. So I became a ceramic artist in Korea. But I really wanted to study the theoretical understanding of all the craft in depth. That’s why I came to America to study craft theory. I took another undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Art in Art History. There were a lot of different classes that I must take, but when I was taking a non-western art history class, I was assigned to go to the museums to see the artifacts. I chose to go to the Natural History Museum in New York. And when I went, I started to see totem poles, and then Olmec heads from the Mesoamerican culture. And that really fascinated me - and I forgot my mission, why I came to America. I changed my mind. “OK, I’m going to study this ancient American art.” So that was the moment I totally, totally changed because these artifacts grabbed my heart, telling me, “Study me!” Do you have a favorite memory at FSU? One just happened a few minutes ago. In my survey art history class, when I shared about the Gothic architectural buildings with images, lots of students started to shout, “Oh my god!” or “Wow!” and that type of reaction makes me really, really excited. It gives me the reason that I would like to keep this job for a long time. Their reactions, whenever they are sharing their reactions in the classroom, it gives me amazing energy and dynamic power that I can keep doing this - lecturing and creating a very different, innovative pedagogy - and that I can actually keep working with my students. So I’m simply sharing the very current memories, but it's all coming from the classroom, and that's an amazing memory. But I also have great friends on campus! From the Psychology department, Mirari Elcoro, and the Biology department, Cara Pina, they’re really, really close friends and also, the coordinator of the Arts & Ideas Program. … Frankly, there are lots of close friends. Ann Johnson from the Nutrition and Health department and then, my God, I cannot list all of my best friends. I feel like I am a very huggy person, and people are very accepting of my hugs. So I can be myself on this campus - not only with students, but also with my friends and colleagues as well. So it's a very lovely campus to be myself. Do you have advice for students on how to build a connection with their professors? I want all students to simply communicate with their professors, whenever they have a certain issue. We are all here to help them. I love that kind of SOS message from my students. When they are having an SOS message, I’m here to help! That kind of interaction is extremely important, so I want all students to not have that fear of talking to your professors. They’re here to help you. So remember that.