IF YOU COULD GO BACK

It was back in those times . . .

Early 1970's I was an art student at Cal State Fullerton and was getting fed up with the too busy and too conservative Orange County.

In January of 1974 I packed my VW Beetle to the brim with every belonging that I could fit in, and my best friend did the same with her Gremlin. We made our great escape 500 miles to the north, and became students at Sonoma State College. We found an apartment on West Sierra in Cotati. It seemed such a tiny town with such a funny name!

We were thrilled that we had found a state college that was out in the boonies, and in such a beautiful county. I knew that the art department at SSU was a step down from the serious and professionally oriented art complex at CSUF. SSU's art department at that time was located in one ground floor wing of the science building, as well as down in the basement.

1960's view down into the valley towards the new campus

I believe though, that most colleges probably do offer what any student needs. It really is up to the student to seek out the knowledge and tools that are made available to him or her. I obtained a scholarship from a Sioux tribe that I am a member of, and it was just enough money to enable me to simply study and not have to find a job. So for two years I had the opportunity to totally immerse myself in my art studies.

My friend and I were indeed the picture of "starving students" though. For a couple of months we slept in sleeping bags in our nearly empty apartment. It was not until our parents made mercy runs to see us that we got beds and a TV. Most treasured though was a whole case of Top Ramen that my roommate's parents brought! We had been subsisting on packages of Vegeroni pasta that we bought at Cotati's El Rancho market. We ate it with butter, soy sauce, and peas. It is a miracle that I now eat any pasta or Asian noodles at all.

The SSU art department was pretty laid back. There was an over dependence on life drawing (nude models), and they didn't want to teach any commercial art courses. A few of the professors, like Bill Morehouse, were very encouraging to us though.

Professor Bill Morehouse on the left

Cotati at that time was a fun little enclave. Its recent claim to fame had been a Mazda car commercial featuring Cotati's one police car, which was a little Mazda rotary engine model. Then there was the legendary Inn of the Beginning bar and music venue, the Last Great Hiding Place cafe, and Jerome's Good Dogs.

Inn of the Beginning

at The Last Great Hiding Place

And Cotati had its very own version of Wavy Gravy, in the eccentric Vito Paulekas.

SSU had the nickname at that time of Granola State. It was pretty much accurate. To see nude sunbathers at noontime on the campus lawns was not that unusual. Professors didn't hesitate to throw parties for students at their homes or to "date" students. One time on a nice sunny day we took our life drawing class outdoors by the pond. I remember there was hardly a second glance at the nude model as students walked by.

by Susan MacMillan

Even though the education there was loosely bound, by the time I graduated from SSU my artistic skills were well honed.

by Susan MacMillan

It is fun to think back, but would I like to return to the days of my early twenties? No way. All, and I do mean all, the life experiences of the past 40 years have been well worth the price of becoming a senior citizen who has a world of confidence in what she knows, and gratitude for all she has, something that the young art student had yet to earn.