For College of DuPage (COD) student artist Rachel White, she admittedly is not too certain as to what the grand, philosophical purpose to art is, but that does not necessarily matter to her. To White, she believes art itself is a key component to embracing our humanity as people.

“[Art] gives you time to think…there’s something about that quietness that might upset some people that I find really interesting,” White stated. “People don’t like what they hear when they have that time to think…I really like that idea of making your own meaning out of things, or diving deep on something and letting it simmer for yourself.”

As a child, White was drawn to trying to capture the world around her, she said. She often shot home movies with her friends and family—ultimately influencing her passions for drawing, painting, photography and filmmaking as mediums of artistic expression.

As a Motion Picture/Television (MPTV) student and employee at COD, White can often be found working at the MPTV cage—checking out equipment to film students and assisting them with their projects.

“I really get a lot of joy from helping other people, and that’s my favorite part of my job,” White said. “Even if I don’t know what the answer is, I can help. Let’s figure it out together.”

White’s efforts to support her peers in any way stem from her deep values for community. Nothing is more important to White than family, which she finds to be the most beautiful, inspiring and motivational element to her life, she said. 

“We’re always there for each other. You know that you always have someone to rely on,” White said. “We’ve been through everything together. And I think that’s so powerful.”

Being actively involved in filmmaking, White appreciates the community aspect of the craft stemming from the collaboration of different roles to create great art. But with film being an upscaled collaborative effort, some productions, especially those with smaller budgets, have started streamlining costs and the creative process through the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) software.

The use of AI in creative spaces has sparked numerous controversies and debate. Most notably, A24’s 2024 Oscar-winning epic “The Brutalist” utilized AI to modify lead actor Adrien Brody’s Hungarian speech to sound more authentic—which he would go on to win the Academy Award for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.”

With generative software becoming increasingly prevalent amongst creators, the integrity of human-made art is called into question.

“I was like, ‘Why do I even take photos anymore?’ But then if I put it in that framework of, ‘That’s our moment right now,’ then that gives me meaning again,” White said. “[Art] looks for meaning to document things.”

White initially attended COD for the film program during the 2023 spring semester, but she soon received the opportunity to transfer to Ithaca College; far from home and away from her family. Although grateful for the opportunities she had received, White still could not help but feel purposeless without having a community to belong to. She ultimately returned to COD in the Spring 2025 semester.

Reflecting upon times she had shared with family and loved ones, White believes a key element to living is having other people to share experiences with, she said. To her, sharing moments with others is essential to appreciating, and therefore experiencing, life. She believes that people seek others to share experiences with as a way of finding purpose in life.

“I don’t regret going to Ithaca, because I needed to go to see what that was like and to realize those things about myself that I would have otherwise never known,” White said. “Sure, do I wish I could have handled things differently? Yes, knowing what I know now. But it is what it is. I wouldn’t have known what I know now.”

It is through this abstract identity and meaning birthed from shared experiences that White believes brings purpose and life in art, she said. White believes AI’s inability to experience life strips it of possessing an abstract, spiritual meaning within its art.

“It doesn’t fulfill me,” White stated. “My soul isn’t fulfilled by using AI—not in the way that drawing and taking photos and making films with people on a set [does]. That’s connection, and expressing yourself and being a part of it.”

There is always an element of suffering in artistic creation—ranging from personal anguish whose expression inspires the work or something as simple as the struggle of actually doing it, she said. But she also understands that just as we, humankind, enjoy having others around to share fond moments with, we depend on each other’s presence in moments of suffering.

For White, art is empathetic, she said. Empathy arises from shared experiences. And shared experiences are essential to living purposefully. Such as the love spread within a community, all these elements work together and complete one another in an interconnected cycle of life.

Grateful for everything she has experienced in life from her triumphant highs to all the melancholic lows, White continues seeking out community in places she finds herself in. Just as she has experienced love from her family, White hopes to give it back to the world with the art she creates.

“I think we’re all looking for meaning and a purpose for being here,” she said. “Maybe we’re trying to find it through photography or through film. I think I have.”