The College's student workshops, tucked away in covert locations on and off campus, provide a gateway to the arts for students with little artistic experience. Jewelry-making, ceramics and woodshop studios offer students a chance to learn new skills and partake in the creative process.
Just across the Ledyard Bridge in Norwich, a small brick building houses the F.A. Davidson ceramics studio. Here, aspiring artists can experiment with clay by hand building and "throwing" on the potter's wheel. The studio contains one industrial-sized kiln and multiple smaller ones, and projects can be glazed and fired on the spot.
Other student workshops are in the basement of the Hopkins Center, where students can use beads, feathers, copper, brass and gold at the Donald Claflin Jewelry Studio. The studio's walls are lined with previous students' work rings, bracelets and earrings, as well as belt buckles and key chains. Students can also create projects using torches and soldering. Case Hathaway-Zepeda '09, this year's artist-in-residence, said the workshop was well-equipped.
"I just finished up at Tufts in the school at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston," Hathaway-Zepeda said. "Even though they have maybe two or three times the amount of space, we still beat them in terms of the quality and quantity of equipment we have here."
Down the hall from the jewelry studio, the whirring of buzz saws emanates from the woodworking workshop. The shop is stocked with both hand tools and power tools, and includes a framing room as well as a finishing room. Director Gregory Elder said that student work ranges from projects like bookshelves and small tables to skateboards and classical guitars.
Instructors are present at all times to supervise students, who are required to attend an orientation session to understand shop protocol and learn how to properly operate the equipment.
"For us, everyone, almost without exception, comes in with no experience," Elder said. "We pride ourselves in specializing in beginners."
The studios also offer classes. The woodshop occasionally holds bowl-turning or skateboard-making sessions, and the jewelry studio offers weekly workshop-style classes that focus on special topics. Hathaway-Zepeda will be leading some of these workshops this year.
"The workshops are aimed at people who want to come in for a certain amount of time and aren't sure what kind of projects they would otherwise do in an open studio," Hathaway-Zepeda said. "It's a good introduction where students can get familiar with the space, the tools and the stations."
Workshops provide students who are interested in studio art, but are not studio art majors, the opportunity to learn from professional craftspeople in a "non-pressured" environment, Elder said.
Jeffrey Georgantes, director of the jewelry studio, said that since workshops are non-credit programs, students can partake in them without being concerned that it will affect their GPA.
"People who might not ordinarily take an art class come here, and just by the act of doing it and practicing, they find out it's not as hard as it seems like it would be," Georgantes said.
Each spring, student work from the workshops is displayed in the Hopkins Center's rotunda. Ceramics Studio director Jennifer Swanson said the yearly exhibition gives students the opportunity to display their projects in a prominent space.
"It not only gives a chance for people to see what's happening in the workshops, but it also gives the students who made the work a chance to shine and have their work exhibited," Georgantes said.
Tasha Bock '15, who has been creating jewelry since her freshman year, said the display was a positive reminder of her rewarding experiences in the workshop.
"Whenever I would pass the Hop I would sneak a look at the display and it would remind me of the fun times, memories and friendships I made in the studio," Bock said.
Elder said that creating something sharpens one's vision of the world.
"When someone comes in here to make a simple square box, they learn the complexity of such a task," Elder said. "They don't see the world the same way after they've tried to make a simple object."
While there are ample opportunities for Dartmouth students to get involved with the fine arts, making time for these activities can be difficult.
Hathaway-Zepeda urged students to take advantage of these resources during their time at the College.
"The art here is a hidden gem," she said. "Within art there's incredible faculty and facilities, and they're being under-utilized."
