Darren Goodman

This might seem like a longish story, but as an art major, it's a really exciting story! So please enjoy! :)


A few months ago, my graphic design class was assigned to design a brochure and poster advertising a temporary glass art exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The glass artist's name was Darren Goodman; after 4 weeks of research, collecting photographs, and watching interviews we all turned in our projects. Several days after turning in our projects, me and several friends (Stephanie and Lisa) attended the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival (how cool, right?!) anyway, as we were leaving the Chocolate Festival, Darren Goodman walked in the door.....and this is how the conversations went from there....


Stephanie: (whispers) That dude over there looks just like Darren Goodman! Do you think it could be him?
Me: Nah, that's not him. In the interview videos his hair was much shorter.
Lisa: What would he be doing in Cincinnati anyway?
Me: It might actually be him because his artwork in currently at the Art Museum, remember? Someone needs to go ask him if he is actually Darren Goodman.


*awkward silence, followed by a 3 minute long argument about who would be the brave one to sacrifice their awkwardness and ask the guy. 


Me: Fine I'll do it. I'd rather look like an idiot in front of a random stranger, rather than walk out of here not meeting Darren Goodman.


Me: Excuse me sir (he turns around), this is a very random question but are you Darren Goodman by chance? 
Darren: Yeah I am.
Me: My jaw hit the ground and rolled away as my eyes widened and stared blankly at him. (Ya, I looked pretty stupid), and then I finally answered....


"Nh nh no way! Really? Because that's like whoa..wow..ohmy...this is....this is.....like whoa...because I like know you. You're that one guy, the glass artist...because I like totally just did a project on your work in my art class".....(you can only imagine how fast I am talking at this point. for those of you who personally know me....I talk really fast (and loudly)...and even more so when I'm excited or nervous (and in this case...BOTH!) anyway, you can probably tell that I was majorly stuttering at this point too!)


I finally looked over my should to see Stephanie and Lisa oddly looking at me. They were probably thinking, "Bethany is either striking up a conversation with a stranger or else she just met Darren Goodman." I frantically excitedly waved to them, and they walked over to us.  


I always assumed that celebrities and famous people would be really stuck up and annoyed at people coming up to them, but Darren was really chill. He asked us about college, and our art classes. He even asked for our opinion on the Chocolate Festival, and if there's is anything that we would recommend him try....and with my chocolate tasting minor I told him my opinion!


This is us at the Chocolate Festival where we met Darren Goodman! From Left to Right: Stephanie, Darren, Me, and Lisa. Oh and he gave me his business card! 

  
        A few weeks later, Darren and I are best friends. Haha, no not really, but I did send him an email attaching my poster and brochure designs just so he could see my project. He really liked it, and ended up contacting our professor, asking if he could come to our class for a visit. :D 


So here is over half of the junior graphic design majors at MSJ, with Darren Goodman. Behind us are the posters we designed for his glass work. He really liked all of them, and gave us great feedback. He talked to use like we were all buddies, and invited us to his studio for a potluck! Cool, right? See, I told you we were best friends. 

Left to Right: Darren Goodman, Jessica, Ali, Laura, Matt, Lisa, Jim, Paul, Stephanie, Me, and Professor Kroeger

I love being an art major. I really do. It brings out the happy side of me. Meeting Darren Goodman, a professional glass artist is like a normal person meeting the president....it's pretty cool. And I love these people in the picture. We have all had a lot of the same classes together over the past 3 years, and we all get along really well and have had so much fun! 

So there you have it. That's the story of me meeting a famous artist. It was super duper exciting. It kinda felt like I was skydiving all over again...my brain turns to mush and I couldn't speak correctly. Weird, huh?  

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Peace Out!