Margo Sulmont '13 Talks with Professor Daniela Rivera About How Her Drawing Class Helped Prepare Her for a Career in Urban Planning

May 16, 2016
Daniela Rivera and Margo Sulmont '13

Throughout this semester, our Monday Daily Shot has presented a series of conversations recorded by StoryCorps devoted to sharing conversations about Wellesley's effect on the lives of its students and alumnae. This week, we present a conversation between Margo Sulmont '13 and Daniela Rivera, associate professor of art. Sulmont shares how Rivera's drawing class helped prepare her for a career in urban planning.

"I'm an urban planner, and a big part of it, actually, is being able to tell stories in different ways with data. We engage people and try to get them excited. And a lot of the ways we do that is through visual representation. So looking at my Wellesley experience, your advanced drawing class, it just turned everything upside down," Sulmont told Rivera.

Rivera recalled one of Sulmont's projects. Later she said, "I hope that when we teach students how to analyze visual information, that that can be translated into the writing of an essay, or into the work in a science lab, or into the world of data collection and analysis."

Sulmont said to Rivera, "…you've been such a great influence for me—really made my Wellesley experience so rewarding."

Rivera responded, "These type of relationships – that connection – I think is something special that happens here…"

Listen to an excerpt of the conversation.

This conversation, and other stories representing a rich mix of anecdotes, insights, and memories, will be preserved for future generations to serve as a lasting record about the women of Wellesley. The stories will be posted to the Campaign microsite and added to Wellesley's archives. StoryCorps, known as "America's oral history project," will also add these stories to the national archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Alumnae are invited to record their own stories by using the StoryCorps app or add their voice by submitting their written stories directly to the Campaign website.