Tired of studying calculus, memorizing history dates or reading your o-chem@@apstyle@@ textbook until your eyes bleed? Maybe the time has come to switch gears and exercise the creative right side of your brain. Luckily, you have the University Craft Center as an easy way to do just that.
Located in the east wing of the EMU, down on the lower level across from the Women’s Center and the Ben Linder Room, the Craft Center is a home of creative, hands-on projects. The center offers workshops each term in various art mediums, including ceramics, glass, jewelry, painting/drawing, photography, fiber arts, paper arts, printmaking and woodworking. University students can also purchase studio passes each term to work on personal projects or to practice skills.
“It’s an opportunity to mingle with other students,” Craft Center office manager Laura Gerards said.@@http://craftcenter.uoregon.edu/index.php?n=1@@
Workshops are small, ranging from seven to 10 slots, so it’s easy to get to know others who share creative interests. International students often enroll in workshops to explore art skills and to practice English.
Students can also interact with community members, faculty and staff in workshops. “A student might be sitting in a ceramics class, for instance, and see their professor,” Gerards said.
The center welcomes curious beginners, hobbyists and serious artists.
“We’re not all art majors here,” University graduate and former Craft Center receptionist Katie Semple said. “It’s a great art community, and everyone’s supportive.”
Rachell Hughes,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Rachell+Hughes@@ a third-year University dance major, said she was interested in the Craft Center as a freshman but didn’t get involved until working as a receptionist at the front desk.
“I got exposed to all the space, and I was just so excited and enthralled to be part of it,” Hughes said. “Finding this place definitely made me feel like I was part of something on campus.”
The center offers cheaper, shorter $15 intro-special workshops during the first week of every term. This term’s choices included glass etching, mug, bowls and felted soap, among others.
“We offer those just to get people in here,” Gerards said. “It’s usually an introduction to the Craft Center and an intro to all the studios.”
The main workshops cost more, ranging anywhere from $25 to $180.@@In the PDF: http://craftcenter.uoregon.edu/index.php?n=2@@ But the price, which pays for materials and space for this nonprofit organization, does not keep students away.@@http://www.facebook.com/StudentUnionCraftCenter@@
“I think our prices are actually really great,” Hughes said. “All the amenities and studio space — that’s something you won’t be able to get anywhere else … it’s a great resource to use.”
The center offers basic beginning classes every term for glassblowing, woodworking and more. New workshops are rotated in to keep things interesting. Of the ones with slots still open, this term sees a balloon-twisting class Oct. 11 as well as a woodworking workshop Oct. 10 through Nov. 14, where students will build a functional folk guitar using a cigar box as the main body of the instrument. There is also a glass pumpkin-making workshop on Oct. 26.@@checked at same PDF@@
“It’s fun to see people come in and see them make something that they never thought they could,” Hughes said.
Besides offering a place to create art, the Craft Center also offers instruction in functional skills. Semple recently took a workshop in the woodworking studio and said learning how to use the majority of the tools means she’ll know what to do in the future. The skills learned in the center can help students be more self-sufficient in the future.
The Craft Center started in 1974 as a tool check-out library, and by the next year it was open for minor craft pursuits, according to Gerards. Back then, it existed solely in the woodshop area; now it’s composed of a jumble of connected rooms and hallways.
“We’ve just been growing in bits and pieces,” Gerards said. “Every year we’ve competed for space … and the space grew because a lot more people were interested, and we wanted to offer more.”
The Craft Center has the chance to organize and expand its space if the EMU is renovated, according to Gerards. The chance for renovation comes with the EMU and Student Recreation Center Referendum, which students will vote on in November.@@http://referendum.uoregon.edu/@@
“We definitely utilize all the space that we have,” Hughes said. “We have a high demand, and if we could offer more that would be great.”
Craft Center presents creative outlet for University of Oregon students
Daily Emerald
October 2, 2011
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