The “Friendly Loom” sits in the Residential College South lobby as part of the Residential College Art Project. Photo by: Clara Turnage
The Residential College South has always strived to be a home away from home to its students, but faculty fellow Marvin King is now giving students a chance to decorate their community. This year, the RC Art Project includes a photography contest, art exhibit, and a communal art venture.
The public, interactive portion of the undertaking is set up just past the entrance to the RC lobby: a large loom, nicknamed the “friendly loom,” at which those who frequent the lobby throughout the day may stop and weave a few rows before going about their business. The loom fills a little bit every day; colorful yarn creeps up from the bottom of the wooden frame and will soon become a tapestry to be displayed in the RC.
The loom is a project of the residential college’s Knitting and Crafts Club, and faculty advisor Buffy Choinski hopes the activity — which is open to the public — will provide the residential college and university community with a chance to work together to create a beautiful work of art.
Choinski came upon knitting herself almost six years ago, when her children were grown and she was looking for something to fill the hours.
“I discovered that with knitting, I enjoyed making things, I enjoyed giving them as gifts, and I found a whole new circle of friends,” she said.
When King started looking for activities to bring students together, Choinski stepped up and started the knitting club.
“Meetings tend to be small,” Choinski said. “Sometimes we just sit and talk and knit and other times I have the opportunity to teach interested students how to knit.”
The group meets every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the lounge outside the residential college’s teaching kitchen, and Choinski is always glad to see new faces with an interest in knitting.
Of course, the “friendly loom” isn’t the only new feature in the residential college. It is only one part of a plan to create a “homey atmosphere” for students, according to King.
A baby grand piano offers musically inclined students a chance to share their talents, and the teaching kitchen lobby is decorated with a rotating collection of artwork from Art Department students and faculty.
Brooke White, associate professor of Art at the University, helps oversee the exhibit. It features a variety of works that change regularly to allow students a chance to experience a full range of work from the university’s talented artists.
King called all of these activities and installations the RC Art Project, an endeavor to “enliven the industrial blandness of the white walls students are typically subjected to in dormitories.”
The final facet of the RC Art Project is the second annual RC South Photo Contest. This contest is another public event encouraging faculty and students to submit photography that will then be judged by Brooke White. White will then choose 10 pieces to feature in the halls of the RC along with the other installments of the art exhibit. Last year, 30 people sent in more than 60 photos, and of those, twelve were chosen to be printed and hung around the Residential College. King hopes that this year’s contest will attract even more entrants.
White, who judged entries for last year’s contest and is reprising that role this year, is excited to see the variety of submitted photographs.
“Last year we had photographs that ranged from places on campus to landscapes in Thailand,” she said.
White also stated that this year’s contest, like last year’s, has no particular theme, but she will be looking at “composition, lighting and subject matter” as she considers each entry. She will select ten winning pieces once all the entries are in by the deadline of Sept. 26.
The photos from the RC South Photo Contest, along with the tapestry from the “friendly loom” and selected pieces from the art department, will be featured in the Residential College South throughout the year.
