If you've never been involved in the arts on campus, you're missing out. Many students think of art as a hobby instead of a college course or a field of study, and for this reason they miss the opportunity to learn, grow, and create in studio art, theater, and music classes. A studio art class, even if you don't consider yourself an artist, can really improve your Colgate experience, and here's why.

1. The People

If you’ve ever walked through Little Hall, you’ve seen the amazing works of art lining the walls and may have been surprised by the names attached to them. You probably thought “I had no idea she could draw so well!” or something to that effect. The art community at Colgate is incredibly diverse and surprisingly large, which means that you might discover that you have something in common with people you’ve never met or even learn something new about one of your close friends. The point is that art brings people together and allows them to bond over creativity and expression, which is pretty cool.

2. The Place

If you spend a lot of time in the basement of Wynn, the narrow halls of Lawrence or Persson, or the cramped study carrels in Case, your mental health might benefit from the atmosphere of Little Hall. The studios are spacious and open, and the halls are covered with art, so just being in Little is relaxing and peaceful. Also, taking a studio art class gives you access to studio space around the clock, which means you can do your homework there too!

3. The Freedom

When you think of freedom in the classroom, you may think of research paper assignments that allow you to chose your topic. Those are nice, but in reality, you’re still confined to the specific styles, forms, and structures that constitute ‘good’ writing. In an art studio, no such structures exist. Sure, your projects might be guided by prompts, but everything else is up to you. Nowhere else on campus will the same assignment result in 15 radically different products. Being that free in a college classroom is too good to pass up.

4. The Silence

I know what you’re thinking: I get plenty of silence at Case in the wee hours of the morning, and it kinda makes me feel dead inside. Well, I’m talking about a different kind of silence. When you’re in the studio, you’re not confined to a little cubby, and you’re not silently reading or typing. Your mind is able to wander, and you’re able to stop and listen to your own thoughts, instead of reading someone else’s off a page. You have space to really breathe, and the environment isn’t filled with the communal stress of everyone around you. Working on a project in the studio can be a therapeutic and even meditative experience, and we all could probably use some of that in our lives.

5. The Creative Process

The satisfaction of developing an idea into a fully realized, physical piece of art is priceless. Studio art teaches you how to translate your thoughts, feelings, inspirations, and desires into works of visual communication, which is a very valuable skill to have. Learning this process might help you understand yourself better, work through emotions in a healthy way, or even write better papers.

6. No Tests or Papers!

Speaking of papers…there are none of those. In intro to studio art, you’re graded on intentionality, effort, and improvement, not how well you can memorize terms or structure arguments. This does NOT mean that studio art is a blow-off class. If you don’t put in the effort and the hours, you won’t do well, because being lazy comes through in visual assignments much clearer than it does in written ones. That being said, if you are willing to take it seriously, a studio art class is still a great break from writing-intensive classes.