Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 501 S. Sapodilla Ave, WPB, FL 33401

THE MUSE

Happening Now
  • March 27No School because of Good Friday on 3/29/24
  • March 27No School on 3/25/24
  • March 27Asian Cultural Society Holi Holiday on 3/28/24 at 11:19 a.m. at the Blue Tables Outside Cafeteria
  • March 27Scholarship Night on 3/27/24 at 6 p.m. in Meyer Hall
  • March 27Dual Enrollment Meeting on 3/27/24 at 11:19 a.m. in the Cafeteria
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 501 S. Sapodilla Ave, WPB, FL 33401

THE MUSE

Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 501 S. Sapodilla Ave, WPB, FL 33401

THE MUSE

Hola, Nihao, Hello, Shalom
Hola, Nihao, Hello, Shalom
March 16, 2024
Lining the bleachers in the gymnasium, sophomores cheer on performers during the Battle of the Bands competition.
Battle of the Genres
March 14, 2024
Vocal sophomore Levi Cowen plays the drums during the sophomores’ Battle of the Bands rehearsal. The sophomores had to perform songs from the techno genre.
Jamming to Win
March 14, 2024

Artist Spotlight: Alia Payne

Visual junior creates charming cosplay
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Photos courtesy of Alia Payne
Visual junior Alia Payne in her cosplay of Wirt from “Over the Garden Wall” and Patsy from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” “Generally I’ll think of something I’m interested about and think ‘I wanna be that,’” Payne said. “For most people, it’s like ‘who do I look like?’ and they look for options within that. For me, it’s ‘what am I passionate about?’ and ‘what would I like so much I’m willing to dress up as it and be all sweaty for the sake of it?’”

When she’s not busy making art, visual junior Alia Payne is a dinosaur trainer. She’s also a cunning gypsy, a supervillain, and a space traveler. Through her intricate cosplay, Payne brings fictional characters to life.

“I’ve done cosplays of Wirt [from “Over the Garden Wall,”] and Patsy, King Arthur, and the Black Knight, [all from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,]” Payne said. “[I’ve also done] Dr. Horrible [from “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,”] Esmeralda [from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,”] Owen Grady [from “Jurassic World,] and “Star Trek” [crewmembers].”

Cosplay is the practice of dressing as a character from a television series, book, movie, or video game. Payne does extensive research before creating her cosplay, and then delves into the costuming.

“First I research [the character’s costume] obsessively, and look over it for a long period of time where I gather a bunch of photo references and mentally work out how it would translate to pieces that I need to create,” Payne said. “Beforehand, I would gather store bought items and reassemble them or alter them to better match the costume. But for the Wirt costume, the most recent, I had to sew most of it. For that I basically looked around for patterns and I had to modify them because a standard cape pattern didn’t fit.”

Payne has been cosplaying for over two years, and she wears her costumes for Halloween and even to conventions, some of which take place in different states.

“[My favorite part of cosplay is] probably talking to people in costume, because I go to conventions and that’s usually where I do the brunt of it,” Payne said. “My favorite part is when someone who doesn’t know you but knows who you’re dressed as comes up to you and is extremely friendly. Generally it’s a lot of fun, meeting people who think you’re doing a good job.”

As a visual major, Payne has experience with finding artistic solutions to problems. She has used techniques she learned in the visual department to assist her with creating quality costumes.

“[Being a visual major] definitely has helped me with the visual aspect of putting together a costume,” Payne said. “I find it’s a lot easier to visualize what I need to do and how I need to do it, and it’s actually helped with the problem solving, because a lot of art is if you mess up you have to figure out how to cover it up. Thinking on your feet is a skill that you get in visual arts when you’re doing art. I’d say constructing something out of pieces that look nothing like it is what I gained from visual.”

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About the Contributor
Uma Raja, Assistant Managing Editor
Communications senior Uma Raja, Assistant Managing Editor and third-year staffer, was born in Manhattan, New York City. She loves animals and enjoys traveling the world to see different aspects of nature and various cultures. Raja's passion has been writing ever since kindergarten, and she has been published several times. She received an Excellent in review writing at the National High School Journalism Convention, third place for news writing in the Palm Beach Post Journalism Awards two years in a row, a Scholastic Silver Key for journalism, and three Editor’s Choice awards for journalism pieces in the literary magazine Teen Ink. She spent her summer at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, where she participated in writing workshops and received instruction from seasoned journalists. She looks forward to creating intriguing articles and putting in a full effort. Raja has worked with esteemed writers like James Patterson and National Geographic Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg, and she hopes that her writing will one day inspire others.
Donate to THE MUSE
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