Art Club reuniting students with the visual arts

Although you may not know about 185 Nassau, the old, gray schoolhouse located at the edge of campus and next to T-Sweets is Princeton's main source of artistic creativity.

At 185, students taking visual arts classes can be found at all hours drawing, painting, working in the sculpture shop or engaged in some type of creative activity.

In addition to periodic exhibitions of student work in the galleries upstairs, the hallways at 185 are always decorated with original artwork created exclusively by Princeton students.

The fourth floor of 185, which can be accessed only by those privileged enough to know the secret code, is the creative nucleus of the building, where students majoring or getting a certificate in the visual arts pursue and experiment with individually designed projects in their own personal studios.

With skylit ceilings, movable walls and an abundance of truly experimental artwork, the fourth floor of 185 is like no other place on campus.

Unfortunately, though, few students ever get a chance to visit the unique fourth floor or even make it to 185 at all. In fact, even Art and Archeology or Architecture majors rarely have any connection with the visual art that is constantly being created at 185.

"Sometimes the ART/ARC department and 185 aren't connected directly. Students are getting lost in one of the two departments . . . so we wanted to connect the two," said Willow Sainsbury '04, an art major.

Similarly, Princeton's renowned Art Museum, home to a wealth of artistic treasures, is often overlooked by Princeton students. "I took an art history class and had precept right next to the art museum, but I've never been inside the museum," Reva Haselkorn '06 said.

Jason Brooks '05 and Sainsbury are determined to change that.

As founders of Princeton's new Art Club, they are making it their responsibility to give the visual arts more of a presence on campus. Upset that artistic creativity and any exposure of the visual arts are limited to 185 Nassau, Brooks and Sainsbury founded the Art Club last fall with the hope of increasing greater awareness about art on campus and to respond to "the feeling" as described by Brooks, "that there is no publicity about art on campus."

The Art Club originated as a side effect of Sainsbury's involvement with the student-guided tours of the Art Museum. Wishing that there were some type of communications network for students who wanted to know more about the various types of visual arts venues on or near campus.

Sainsbury wanted to establish a club on campus that would satisfy that need. Noting Princeton's reputation as a "science-dominated school," Sainsbury "wanted [the Art Club] to be something that made art more of a presence on campus."

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Through her sculpture class, Sainsbury met Brooks and could immediately tell from his enthusiasm that he would be the perfect person to help her get the Art Club started. "We didn't know each other," Sainsbury admitted, but "knew he'd be great to work with" and right a way saw in him a possible "successor."

Sainsbury and Brooks envision the Art Club's primary goal as a communications network that would inform students interested in visual arts of events taking place on campus or nearby that might be of interest.

For now, this network is implemented in the form of an email list, with Sainsbury or Brooks periodically and informally notifying those on the list of various artistic opportunities.

While most of the events listed in the emails are pretty standard artistic venues, such as museum exhibits or a trip to New York City for photographers, both founders of the club also have informed students of less traditional artistic opportunities.

One such opportunity that received an especially favorable response was a notice about a bunch of old 60's chairs with a chrome retro look that were being thrown out. Certain that someone with an aesthetic sense would be interested in acquiring some cool chairs, Sainsbury immediately sent the notice about the available chairs to the Art Club list.

"People should know that they can get cool chairs!" Sainsbury explained.

Sure enough, Sainsbury received an enthusiastic thank-you email from a freshman who picked up four chairs that he has creatively transformed into umbrella stands.

Sainsbury and Brooks know that eventually they should try and implement some of their own events and in addition to their own ideas, have been flooded with suggestions from students on the email list. The actual implementation of the ideas, though, has been somewhat tricky.

The Art Club's first project has been met with overwhelming resistance from the Frist management. Art Club members would like to display in Frist a selection of works from last fall's intro to sculpture class, hoping to add a student presence and diminish Frist's sterility.

But the administration has been far from being receptive to the idea, and reacting to what he describes as the "soulless" nature of the Frist, Brooks has been told that he has "no chance."

Art Club members are undaunted. Circulating in 185, there is now a petition for those students and faculty who are strongly interested in seeing student artwork in Frist.

Other Art Club projects include painting murals to decorate the basement of Murray-Dodge, a kind of "open-mic" night with a DJ and socializing event held in 185 and a means to make finished artwork from the visual arts courses readily available to anyone who might be interested in hanging it up around campus or simply owning it for themselves.

Based on feedback from a few students on the email list who have voiced a desire to have students share creative writing outside of class, the Art Club is also looking to expand to include creative writing in addition to the visual arts.

Right now, the Art Club's main obstacle, besides initial resistance from the administration, is the sheer abundance of ideas. "There are so many angles! There is so much to do to make art more visible!" Sainsbury said.

To organize the club's now mainly theoretical and diverse number of projects, a board of officers is being set up. Anyone willing to take on a particular position or who just simply wants to get involved with the club is encouraged to join the board.

Despite being only a few months old and being quite informal, the Art Club seems destined to flourish. The enthusiastic response from students as described by Brooks and Sainsbury indicates a thirst among students for a more creative atmosphere on campus, and with the Art Club, this need may be finally fulfilled.