 "Photo: Hannah Atkin | Student Life")
Washington University students used to writing papers and doing lab experiments have been given the opportunity to paint, print and decorate at Art Week, a program hosted by the Art Council at the Danforth University Center (DUC) from Monday through today.
Jenny Murphy, president of the Art Council (ArtC), is excited for this year’s events, which she hopes will interest students from all of the University’s educational divisions.
This is the third year of Art Week, and the programs this time, which have run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, have covered a range of art disciplines. On Monday, Art Week began with a project to create a banner for the program. Tuesday, students were invited to decorate a glass jar and Wednesday, ArtC partnered with Whammo Press, a print-making group at the University, to host a screen printing workshop. Thursday, face painting and drawing were the focus of events, followed by a drawing marathon that night, with food, live models and drawing supplies available to interested students.
“Every year we’ve gotten a little more following,” Murphy said. “There are events that a lot of people are excited about.”
A new event this year will be the “Bring Your Own Art” Show on Friday in the lobby of the Steinberg Auditorium, which is open to both students from the Art School and from the other schools on campus. In addition to the works already present, there will be tables available for students to create art.
“Anyone can bring anything and put it up,” Murphy said. “We will fill the lobby with artwork as the night goes on. It’s for people to hang out and look at art, to make it less formal and more fun.”
Although there will be an informational table with Art School deans at the event, Murphy has arranged for it to be student-focused, with no faculty juries or formal evaluation, though she did say that art students can put the show on their résumés.
“We hope it’s an open environment for students to say whatever they want,” she said.
In addition to Art Week, ArtC puts on the Art Prom in the spring, and earlier this year sponsored political art on campus leading up to the election, as well as an exhibit of students’ work in the DUC’s Reading Room.
Like that exhibit, Art Week aims to bring the Art School closer to main campus, Murphy said, because it is often “isolated” from the rest of the University.
“We want to spread awareness of the Art School and art students and just have fun with art on main campus,” Murphy said. “Even though the art activities we do on campus are little projects, that’s what gets students interested, and that’s when we get people talking about what’s happening at the Art School.”
Students not from the Art School who have participated in the events have enjoyed the experience of creating something different from their regular academic work.
“Even if it was just for 15 minutes, it was really nice to spend some part of my day using the other side of my brain and make sweet art projects,” freshman Rachel Zemke said of the projects she participated in, including painting her own jar and screen-printing.
Murphy hopes Art Week will increase the student body’s interest in visual thinking and creativity.
“Art exists in Wash. U. and it wants to be friends with you,” Murphy said. “It’s good and healthy to stop staring at a computer for a little bit and do something with your hands and be creative. Maybe it will make your day better.”
With additional reporting by Ben Sales
