Hill studio offers new home to campus artists

Thanks to the efforts of the Penn Art Club, students with a passion for art will be able to pursue their hobby in the Hill Underground Art Studio.

The new space, which had an opening preview earlier this month, will be a physical home for the club, according to outgoing Art Club President and College senior Ingrid Lindquist. The studio is not yet ready for general use, but will be open to students in the fall.

Lindquist compared it to the Platt Performing Arts House and the Kelly Writers House on a much smaller scale, saying she hopes it will encourage all members of the Penn community to pursue art projects.

The opening of the new studio in Hill College House brings attention to the lack of art space on campus for student art enthusiasts who are neither majoring in art nor taking art classes here.

Lindquist said the Hill studio addresses this problem. “This is the only resource available for students not taking art classes, aside from different workshops or events the Fine Arts Department or the college houses might put on,” she said.

Current Art Club President Rachel Bauer, a College junior, said she hopes the studio becomes an open space for making art and hanging out.

“It can foster a community on campus,” she said.

The new space in Hill is intended to allow students to pursue art as a hobby without committing a certain amount of time or money.

Undergraduate Fine Arts Director Julie Schneider said the department currently offers workshops in areas like printmaking and ceramics, which are open to students who are neither pursuing majors in art nor are enrolled in art classes.

While students interested in music have a space in the new Music Building and those passionate about dance have access to the dance studio in Irvine Auditorium, Schneider explained the same is not true for students interested in art because of space and funding concerns.

“If you want to get me a new building, I would be happy to have such a studio,” she said.

One difference between art and music and dance, she said, is that many of the materials used in the studios are toxic and require proper ventilation and disposal.

Schneider also said students passionate about art can participate in a number of exhibitions on campus and are invited to attend all art shows hosted by the department, as well as most visiting art lectures.

“I would love to have a bigger, newer building with a larger gallery space that is open to people who are not art students,” she said. “But we do have an educational mission, and that is our priority — to serve our students to the best of our ability.”

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