This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
The work that Lindsay Gonzalez ’09 (Towanda, Pa.) is doing this summer is more than just an internship; it’s an adventure.
In this instance, it’s an artistic adventure as Gonzalez spends her time working with respected independent filmmaker Bill Hayward ’65 on a movie and other projects focused on the expression of the human mind.
“I haven’t ever explored my imagination as much as I have this summer and I think that’s because of Bill,” the art and English double major says. “He’s really great at getting you to open up and explore what you can do with your mind and your own talent.”
Paramount among the projects the two have worked on this summer has been a film called “Heart Attack: Getting on With Our Hungers, Dreams and Desires.”
As Hayward describes it, the film explores the boundaries of the mind and the way people react to life’s many challenges. The film profiles life experiences of various people and catalogues and analyzes them in a somewhat surreal setting.
“The overall intent of the project and the film is about imagination and journeys of the heart. It’s very much a dream sequence,” he says. “You’ve got to see it because it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen, an entirely new adventure.”
That’s been the theme for Gonzalez as well.
“She was involved in all aspects of the screening. She did set design and added other things to the film,” Hayward says. “She’s involved in all the editorial conferences we have. She’s done a great job.”
Gonzalez also has been involved in some other projects with Hayward, including some that could be inserted into the film for future showings.
In her daily duties at Hayward’s New York City studio, Gonzalez also chronicles ideas and observations which they use to create art in the studio.
“I’m just learning a lot. I came into this knowing nothing about photography, film or editing,” she says. “Bill told me, ‘I will provide you with some of my knowledge,’ and it’s worked out really well.”
In fact, the experience has prompted Gonzalez to branch out from her original career intentions and to continue to learn more about film and photography.
The work this summer has been part of a broad liberal arts learning experience for Gonzalez. Among her activities has been extensive work with Curlee Raven Holton, professor and head or art, in Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute. She also has served as a teacher’s assistant for group drawing classes, will be the president in the fall of the college Ceramics Society, and participates in the Swim to Succeed program, which teaches children with physical ailments how to swim. She’s also involved in the Alpha Phi sorority, College Democrats, and Questioning Established Sexual Taboos (QuEST).
She says she appreciates the array of opportunities Lafayette has provided.
“I knew I wanted to major in art and something else – maybe law or economics – then I took an English class. From the point that I took my freshman year writing course I’ve just been writing away, and that’s probably the biggest help I’ve gotten from being a student at Lafayette,” Gonzalez says. “It’s been really helpful to me, because I need a lot of interpersonal relationships with my professors. I don’t think you can get that anywhere else like you can at Lafayette.”