CityView Magazine

32 | March/April 2015 arts she found the " REAL " BY RACHEL BRUNE In 1986, Mison Kim entered Janet Parks Advanced Placement art class at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville. A diligent student who was still learning English, Kim turned in exquisitely rendered assignments that would inevitably draw a crowd around their intricate abstractions. From Korea, to Fayetteville, to the Big Apple, Mison Kim is now back in town to showcase her reality I n February at Methodist Univer- sity, Kim, now a successful, New York City-based artist, returned to share her work with her adopt- ed hometown in an exhibit entitled "Searching for the Real." Getting her start When Kim and her family first ar- rived from Korea, she could not speak English very well and did not know many people in the community except for family members who already lived in Fayetteville. When she arrived at Seventy-First High School, Janet Parks, an artist in her own right, was teaching an advanced level art course and ac- cepted Kim into her class. "ere was a lot of precision in her work," said Parks, who has since retired aer 18 years of teaching. She explained that Kim would turn in her work early and the other students would gather around to view her unique pieces. "ey were just totally exceptional." Together with her classmates, Kim studied not only how to make art, but art history, and visited museums on trips that Parks led. Parks spoke of her hus- band, Chip Parks, who has passed away, but always supported his wife with her students, including Mison, helping her to find and apply for scholarships for them and supporting her with trips to New York to visit her students. During this time, Parks learned of and encouraged Kim to submit her work to the Pratt Institute National Tal- ent Search. She won second place and her work was sent with other student pieces around the world. Eventually, Kim applied to Pratt In- stitute under the guidance of Parks and one year aer arriving in America, she was studying art in New York City on a four-year scholarship. Influences Arriving in New York City to study art had always been a dream, said Kim who took art lessons for 10 years in Korea. At the same time, it was overwhelming. "It was a scary time for me," said Kim, whose father, a former Korean Air Force pilot, wanted to bring his family Photography by Michelle Bir

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