Ron Stevens, director of the Miami University Art Center, watched his daughter grow up swimming in the Billings Natatorium. Now, his desk overlooks what used to be the middle of the pool.
The Art Center, located in Phillips Hall, inhabits the former pool. The center of the room is now filled with long rectangular tables, occupied by a rotating cast of students and instructors. Along the tall windows are rows of colorful glass rods students can use in their art. Diving boards and starting blocks have been replaced by kilns and drawers of tools.
The classes offered at the center are as unique as the room itself. Stevens said some classes, like Beginning Glass Beading (ART 140) can only be taken at the Art Center.
For River Kirby, a senior majoring in art education and studio art, the center is more than just a pretty space. He said the center offers an accessible entrance to art.
“They’re probably the cheapest art classes I’ve ever had to take because I don’t have to buy all the materials myself … all the materials are supplied for us,” Kirby said.
Kirby said one of the perks of taking the class is having access to equipment like laser cutters and 3D printers, which aren’t available in other arts areas on campus. Instructors encourage students at the center to work on projects outside of class, so students can always use the resources there.
“It’s really focused on experience,” Stevens said. “You’re not sitting in a class listening to a lecture for two hours a week,”
Students clean up materials after a pottery class. The Center also provides many other unique classes such as glass beading.
Stevens also said students take the classes for fun since many are beginner courses geared toward non-art majors.
“They’re really accessible for anybody who wants to take the art classes,” Kirby said.
Kirby said he liked that the center’s classes were sprint courses, meaning they were seven weeks long and not the usual 15. The shortened time, coupled with the class meeting only once a week, meant the class was easy to fit into his schedule.
“It’s not an overload,” Kirby said. “I’m taking 21.3 credits, and it has not added extra stress.”
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Billy Simms, Western Center coordinator and adjunct professor for the Phillips Art Center teaches photography and printmaking courses. He said he enjoys sharing his passion for art with beginner students.
“With any class … you meet your learners at the level they’re at and you bring them forward as learners,” Simms said.
He added that the art center is a place for experimentation and trying new forms of expression. Instructors expect students to change or restart projects before finding the best techniques.
“It’s really more about skills than maybe getting the most beautiful finished project the first time around,” Simms said.
Stevens said he believes the skills students develop at the art center apply to other areas of study. Since the classes are beginner-level, students use trial and error to figure out how to create art.
“You end up learning problem-solving without knowing you’re learning problem-solving,” Simms said.
Both Kirby and Simms said that they hope more students take advantage of classes at the art center.
“I think that a vast number of students could have success and feel really good about what they would do there,” Simms said.
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