Gillian Bierman: Transitioning from Atascadero Life to Hollywood Art School
by Haley Hart
February 5, 2025Gillian Bierman grew up in Los Osos and Atascadero, CA, with a family who consistently supported her passions. Growing up, those passions were ever-changing, going from cheerleading at one moment to softball or guitar the next. However, one passion managed to stand the test of time - Bierman’s love for art. At 10 years old, Bierman began creating art pieces everyday inspired by her interests at the time. This included TV shows, movies, and musicians. Over the course of Bierman’s middle and high school years, she ran many online accounts dedicated to her art, which, self admittedly, she hopes no one finds due to their “deeply embarrassing fangirl content.”
After nearly a decade of creating and honing her craft, Bierman found herself in pursuit of something greater: art school. She began her search at 17 years old for places to apply, ultimately landing on Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA.
Bierman spoke about her college application journey, “Applying to Otis was certainly a challenge, given the fact that I was required to present 10-15 art pieces that correctly represented my style, my passion, and the way I view the world.” Bierman expanded on this challenge and said, “I was torn between many ideas and compositions that didn’t pan out, but I found that curating pieces that align with my own interests and values helped the process go smoothly.”
In June 2024, Bierman received the news that she was not only accepted to Otis, but awarded a full-ride scholarship. All of this exciting news did not make the transition to college any less difficult. Bierman spoke about the shift and said, “Initially, I became homesick after moving into the dorm, as I had only lived with my mother my whole childhood. Those feelings have come in waves, where some days I will be with my new friends and blissfully unaware of what the people back at home are up to, but then there are other times when home is all I can think about. Overall, I adjusted pretty quickly and have found a freedom here I didn’t know I was lacking before.”
When Bierman applied to Otis, she submitted a lengthy portfolio, which included her favorite piece she’s ever created, entitled “Remedy.” The piece depicts a 12 year old Bierman, bedridden. Bierman explained the inspiration behind the piece saying, “When I was in sixth grade, my current doctor had refused me my arthritis medicine because of insurance issues. Because of this, I suffered for five months with severe swelling that made me bedridden, as well as damage to my emotional state that I thought I never would recover from,” adding, “It perfectly captures my feelings and struggles during the time of my worst flare up in which I had to utilize a wheelchair to move around.”
Bierman currently majors in illustration and minors in creative writing. She expanded on this and said, “I will be studying the fundamentals of art and what exactly I would offer to the world of creatives. For my job, I see myself working on illustrated books, including cover artworks, inside pages, and promotions. I would like to work for a company that upholds my values in sustaining art, while also uplifting smaller artists.”
When Bierman picked her minor, she had little trouble. She fell in love with literature at an early age and said, “The first full length novels I ever read were the Harry Potter books, which expanded my understanding of how a world can be captured and imagined.” As Bierman got older she found authors like Virginia Woolf, who inspired her to indulge in her writing further. Woolf’s “radical” feminist perspective was something Bierman found to be “refreshing and overall inspiring to young women like me who live in a world where society does not cater to female creatives.”
Overall, Bierman is enjoying her newfound freedom in college, and is looking forward to creating memories in an environment where her and her creativity can finally flourish.
