This past Wednesday evening, the Craft Center hosted Art Studio Night. The event was held to let the student body know that a great way to just let loose is right above their heads.
Located in the oft-unexplored regions of the third floor in the Student Center, the Craft Center is a largely underutilized part of campus, offering many opportunities for projects or simply just for fun.
“[The Craft Center] is an unknown and untapped resource to most of the student body,” said Monica Huynh, a second-year Biology major and student employee in the Craft Center.
The theme of the night was models. Huynh acted as the coordinator for the event, planning for models to come to Tech for the night.
“The event is about providing a model and rich assortment of mediums at a low price so people can feel free to experiment with new forms of creativity or advance their technique through the study of the human figure,” Huynh said.
Models are rarely used for artistic purposes because they are very expensive and difficult to obtain. Huynh consulted with Diana Talley, an Aerospace Engineering graduate student and administrator of the Craft Center.
Huynh and Talley thought up the idea of providing exciting subjects at an inexpensive cost to the students. Many different mediums were also provided for the students to try out.
“Art Studio Night will, through providing students with access to a model, clay, charcoal, pastels, watercolors, acrylic paints, and pencils in order for students to freely experiment with, draw more attention to the Craft Center as whole and what it has to offer,” Huynh said.
Huynh expressed her hope that the first Art Studio Night is not the last.
“My hope is that everyone that attends Art Studio Night will find something new they would like to pursue in subsequent Art Studio Nights,” Huynh said.
The Craft Center is going to continue to hold monthly Art Studio Nights, with more models and different themes.
Evaluation forms were also available as the Craft Center was very enthusiastic about collecting feedback from the students for potential ways to improve, following Art Studio Nights.
During the course of the night patrons were free to do whatever they wanted with any of the materials that were there. Though models were the centerpiece, no one was limited to them.
“People that come usually keep coming back,” Huynh said.
On an ordinary day, many of the same students return to utilize this great way to relax and explore their creativity. There are also many staff members in the Craft Center to guide students who might not be familiar with the tools and resources available.
The Craft Center also holds workshops that can help students get started in a variety of different artistic mediums. The workshops offer free materials and topics include sewing, stained glass and pottery.
The Craft Center hopes to get the word out there and Art Studio Night will help them with promotion.
“This event is all about allowing college students the opportunity to expose themselves to new things in an inexpensive way. Those unable to afford splurging on art lessons, models, or even materials, can find a least a starting place for discovering or developing their passion for art at Art Studio Night,” Huynh said.
For more information about the Craft Center and the different opportunities available, visit www.foef.gatech.edu or look for the Facebook group called GTCraft.
Upcoming events and the latest developments can be found at both sources.