Artist Spotlight: Hadley Rodebeck

Rose Reynolds
Contributing Writer

Hadley Rodebeck is a senior graphic design major here at the University of Dayton. She has been interested in art ever since she was little. With a selfless attitude, she has always wanted to make artwork for people of importance in her life.

“I’ve always liked making things for people I care about,” Rodebeck said. Some of the best things I make are made with another person in mind.”

She has an air of confidence which allows her to procrastinate just in time for the pressure to be acute — that is when she comes up with her best work. She is confident in her abilities and intuition, which allows her to be successful in her workflow.

“Although it feels like a weakness a lot of the time (and tends to drive my teachers crazy), I find the chaotic process, the suspension of judgement, the obsessive collection of data and sometimes the anxiety that comes along with it to be extremely necessary and my biggest strength in my art and design process,” Rodebeck said

Going back in time, her grandmother was an artist on her mother’s side, and her grandmother on her father’s side was a stenographer. Even though they were not in her life, Rodebeck carried on a lot of characteristics from them, attention to detail being one of the main ones.

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As previously mentioned, she has always been artistic, which led her to stray away from the crowd. She is an introvert, with her creative mind always flowing with new ideas.

“The introspective experience of crafting something meaningful for someone to look at, have, and experience, was always more appealing to me than playing with other kids at recess,” Rodebeck said.

At times, it was a bit more difficult for her to pursue her passions. Her grade school did not have the best art department. The school she went to was very limited with who it allowed into the program, and she was left excluded. Rodebeck took the reigns and signed up for a digital design course. It was then that she googled the salary and decided she wanted to become a career woman in graphic design. Not many eighth graders can say they know what they want to be when they grow up, and actually follow through with it.
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At the beginning of her life at UD, her freshman foundations drawing course professor, Erin Holscher-Almazan, had a huge impact on her. During one of the classes, Almazan said, “Don’t erase.” It was the most simple of phrases that left a mark on Rodebeck for years to come. The teacher followed with, “Those marks will help you find where the mark truly lies.”

“This is something that has stuck with me and is so relevant in all art making,” Rodebeck said. “You have to explore where things aren’t supposed to go, what your project isn’t, in order to find out what it is.”

Hadley doesn’t follow the rules. She breaks them to learn where each direction will her. For her, art is about the nonsensical aspects of life, which is where she draws her inspiration.

As Rodebeck wraps up her time at UD as a senior, she has a very appreciative attitude about her time spent here. She gives thanks to all of her teachers and peers who have helped her grow along the way.

“I’ve taken a lot of classes in fine art and find every single one of them rewarding, delving into each professor’s advice and way of looking at the world,” Rodebeck said.

“It’s been an enriching experience. Including sculpture, painting, drawing, figure drawing, alternative photography. Not to mention, a good time.”

Rodebeck has been an artist in the graphic design department these last four years at the University of Dayton, showing her artistic capacity with these projects along the way.

Photos Courtesy of Hadley Rodebeck