Summer 2017 EditionAlumni & Friends Magazine
Last word
Assistant Professor of Art Melissa Haviland answers Ohio Today’s questions about what makes her tick.
Editor Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ ’91, CERT’91 | May 21, 2017
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Melissa Haviland and David Colagiovanni at home in Athens with their son, Jude, and cat Roux. Photo by Ben Siegel, BSVC ’02
Melissa Haviland’s work straddles the worlds of printmaking and installation-performance. The School of Art + Design assistant professor’s life also exists between artist and parent, alongside David Colagiovanni, director of OHIO’s annual Athens International Film + Video Festival. Their son, twoyear-old Jude, became part of her essence at his birth, yet doesn’t impinge on her creative process. “You know how [before having kids] you are the only one in your head? Since Jude was born, now there are two in there! I never miss him when I’m working. Yet he is the most consistent thing, other than having a self, that I can think of.”
What is your earliest memory? The 1979 blizzard in Chicago. My dad took me out to the back yard to feed the dogs. The snow was so deep—around two feet—I had to walk in his footsteps.
What would your superpower be? Stopping time. I LOVED the episode of Twilight Zone called “A Little Peace and Quiet” when I saw it in the ’80’s about a woman who finds a pendant that can stop time. I cannot imagine how many times I have thought about that story and the possibilities and challenges of stopping time. I would get so much done! But do you age while time is stopped? Do electrical things work while time is stopped? I would need my sewing machine…And on and on and on…
Which living person do you most admire and why? This is a hard one. I admire so many people for so many reasons. Right now, I most admire my partner, David Colagiovanni, for the truly commendable job he did running his second year of the Athens International Film + Video Festival. It is an intense, yearlong project that he deeply loves and gives his all to. His commitment and focus is inspiring!
What is your favorite smell? It is a tie between the smell of cutting steel, browning meat, and the top of a baby’s head.
What is your favorite word? SUBTLE
What book has changed your life? Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”, Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five”, and Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” I read them all very early in life and I can still taste them. They were too complicated for me and I felt the challenge and darkness in them affect me permanently.
What did you want to be when you were growing up? A surgeon. I was always good with my hands, detail oriented, fascinated with biology, and immune to gore.
What’s the worst job you’ve done? A couple of my undergraduate school waitress jobs tie for this. They were sad, gross places and I made very little money. I also, thankfully, did not stay at the jobs very long.
If you could edit your past, what, if anything, would you change? Nothing. I regret things, but I would not want to change the mix of decisions and events that led me to my current place.
How do you relax? Sew, anything really, while watching movies.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Making things has always been my lifeblood. Since I was very small. Now I make things for a living and teach students to make things and problem solve through art. I love it.
