Students flock to Arts Annex for new workshops

<p>The DukeCreate Arts Workshop series has been popular among students since kicking off in early September. The program hopes to expand in the future by inviting visiting artists and faculty to teach.</p>

The DukeCreate Arts Workshop series has been popular among students since kicking off in early September. The program hopes to expand in the future by inviting visiting artists and faculty to teach.

Students are taking full advantage of one of Duke’s most recent arts initiatives with the construction of a new $50 million Arts Center on the horizon.

The DukeCreate Arts Workshop series, developed by DukeArts, University Center Activities and Events, duARTS, DUU VisArts, Artstigators and the Arts Annex, has received positive feedback from students and local artists since being implemented in early September. A variety of workshops—including painting, ceramics, screen printing and photography—are taught by local professional artists three times a week to appeal to a wide variety of students.

“I came to Arts Annex a few times before to use the free supplies they provided to paint,” freshman Jane Xu said. “This workshop is even better because I can meet people who have similar interests in arts as I do, besides the instructor is really inspiring.”

Although the program began approximately a month ago, organizers are already talking about potential expansion.

“The turnout has been really good. The first two weeks the workshops were completely full,” said Scott Lindroth, vice provost for the arts and professor of music. “Because of the limited space, we can only take eight to 10 students each time. But that’s great because students get more individualized attention this way.”

Lindroth noted that it is gratifying to see so many students taking advantage of the workshops. Their popularity is reflective of a recent increase in student interest in the arts—data recently released by the University showed that three times as many applicants to Duke are including art portfolios with their applications as did 10 years ago.

Administrators are not the only ones pleased with student engagement with DukeCreate Arts—artists teaching the workshops have reported positive experiences as well.

Martha Clippinger, a professional artist who teaches painting and drawing in the workshops, noted that she was impressed that students are finding time to attend despite their busy schedules.

“A lot of them have majors that are far away from arts like biology and economics, and I feel they are all really open to just trying new things,” she said.

The program has successfully attracted members across the Duke community—including both undergraduate and graduate students.

“I really enjoy doing the arts and talking with the instructor.” said Meng Xie, a Ph.D. student in statistics who attended one of Clippinger’s workshops last Thursday. “It’s the first time this week that I am not thinking about the academic work and just focusing on creating something out of colors and patterns. I think I will come again next week.”

Bill Fick, visiting assistant professor of art, art history and visual studies and an organizer for the workshops, noted that one purpose of the workshops is to help students engage with the broader Durham community in addition to learning about art.

“A college campus can be isolated sometimes. We want to provide an environment for students to interact with peers and artists from outside and also for artists to know more about Duke, so that it is a two-way interchange of ideas,” Fick said. “We want to help build a dynamic arts community at Duke and we welcome students’ suggestions.”

The organizers of the workshops plan to invite visiting artists and faculty to come and teach the workshops to expand the program, Fick explained. Other ideas for growth include future collaborations with Duke Student Broadcasting and DUU Freewater Productions to develop a video workshop next semester.

The Arts Annex has hosted more students as a result of the workshop series, but is also being frequented by individual students and student groups, noted Sylvia Herbold, a master’s student in fine arts.

“A lot of students are coming in and using the free supplies we provide to paint. Some dance organizations are really active, using the two studios here to rehearse,” Herbold said. “Students and organizations can also propose and hold arts related programs and events in the Arts Annex.”

Update: This story was updated to include DUU in the name of VisArts. 

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