By Caitlin Corll
Professor Ana Teresa Galizes, who’s been a part of the William Peace University community since she was an undergraduate herself, has built a successful photography business, had her work displayed in galleries and publications, and now teaches at WPU.
Galizes graduated from WPU in 2011 with a major in communications and a minor in English. She was an active member of the WPU community and reflects fondly on her time as a student, remembering planning the Red Rose Ball as one of her favorite memories.
“I was on the planning committee, and also working on the ‘Prism’ was, I don’t even know. I don’t have words for it. It was just fantastic,” said Galizes. “We don’t have the Campus Activities Board anymore, but I was co-president of that, and I was also editor in chief of ‘The Peace Times’.”
When Professor Roger Christman, chair of the communications and SGD Departments, offered her a teaching position at WPU a few years after graduation, she fell in love with teaching and has stayed since.
“Mr. Christman contacted me and asked me to come teach one class,” said Galizes. “And three weeks into teaching my class, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do forever.’”
Currently, Galizes teaches several classes: art appreciation, media and popular culture, painting, and professional communication skills, with painting being her favorite class to teach.
Her teaching endeavors extend beyond the classrooms of WPU as well. She also teaches a mixed media class and bookbinding classes at Artspace in Raleigh. She finds the less rigid expectations of such a format to be enjoyable to teach but also more conducive to the creative process.
“I think there’s a lot of tension around art and grades and that people won’t take as many risks when they know they’re being graded on something,” said Galizes. “They’re going to be more likely to go with the easy way out and or what they think the teacher wants to see rather than truly following their heart.”
Before teaching, Galizes’ first passion was photography, which has been an interest of hers since she was a child.
“Around the age of 10, I received a film camera because I’m old,” said Galizes. “It was the 90s, and that’s how I got into it. It was a Barbie camera with one 110 millimeter film…And from there, my parents kept giving me nicer and nicer cameras.”
This passion evolved into a successful decade-long career as Galizes found her place photographing weddings and portraits.
“What I really loved about photographing weddings was how when I got into the zone, nothing existed outside of that space,” said Galizes. “It didn’t matter what I had going on in my life, even, like, pretty serious stuff. All of that just melted away. When I was in those spaces, I was just so completely laser focused into it.”
Galizes’ clients loved working with her as well. One client, Nicolle, wrote a blog post on her personal blog “Life on the Road Less Traveled” to praise Galizes’ work.
“Once again, the wonderful Ana Teresa Galizes, of Galizes Photos, has done a fantastic job taking photos of our family,” said Nicolle.
Despite her love for the photography business, Galizes knew when it was time to move on to other pursuits.
“I felt like I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with photography, which was primarily being able to say, ‘I make a living from the visual arts, society. I’m not a starving artist’,” she said. “So it was partly that I wanted to do this full time, and also my health started to break down a little bit and it’s a very physical job.”
Galizes hasn’t left photography behind her, though.
“That’s one thing I really like to do, is macro photos of flowers and other types of foliage, cacti and succulents,” she said. “That actually started when I was in graduate school and was severely stressed out. I ended up going to Duke Gardens one day with my camera by myself, and that’s kind of what came out of it.”
Photography has always served a personal purpose for Galizes. She wants to use it to show people new perspectives. One of the best comments she says she’s ever received on her photography came from a teacher at Duke while she was studying for her master’s degree. It came as she was printing a close-up photo of a blooming flower.
“My teacher was like, ‘Whoa, I feel like a bug,’” said Galizes. “So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, those are the types of responses I want. I want to get people to take on a different perspective when they look at my work.’”
Galizes’ creativity doesn’t stop with photography. She has many creative outlets, her current favorite being collage. These provide a more personal outlet for her creative energies, not being pieces she tends to share with others. She wants others to know art can be personal and not just a career.
“I feel so much better doing it when I think, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s just for me,’” said Galizes. “We gotta banish ‘But what will other people think?’ That is not conducive to being creative. And even if you’re not making your income from being an artist, that doesn’t make you not a real artist. You’re still a real artist.”
While her other works may be private, Galizes has been widely recognized for her photography. She submits her work to ArtSpace in Raleigh a couple times a year and has had her photography published in “Town and Country UK” and “Chapel Hill Magazine”.
“I take classes at Saratoga Arts Center so I participate in their student teacher show, which is a community exhibit,” said Galizes. “So community exhibits, anybody can submit, and if you submit, then they show your work. And then there’s juried exhibitions. And with those, there will be a jury that selects the artwork. It’s a little more exclusive, so I try to do a little bit of both.”
Many students want to pursue a creative career, but are worried about others’ opinions and the stereotype of a starving artist. Galizes has advice to offer on that.
“It’s okay to earn an income from something else to give yourself that security, so that you don’t put pressure on that little baby bird that is your creativity,” said Galizes. “Don’t make it pay the bills if the time isn’t quite right yet. And don’t feel bad if you’re an artist and you need to have another job. That is 100% still valid.”
Galizes wants to reassure students that they are still an artist even if their art doesn’t pay their bills yet. As a photographer, she would line up her weddings for the year in advance to know she had a little security.
She also has advice for those wanting to explore artistic endeavors.
“Be gentle with yourself. Try not to judge yourself too harshly,” she said. “Also try to make time for it every day, even if it’s just like 15, 30 minutes. And continue to consume art by others without comparing yourself.”
Photo by Caitlin Corrl