“Stamps Senior Studio” vle blog response

When I visited Stamps during campus day last April the main area that stood out to me were the senior studios. As you could have read in columnist “vle”’s April 5th blog, these studios are for Stamps BA and BFA students. They are filled with inspiration and each cubicle has its own personality. I could spend hours looking at each artists space and how they have cultivated their work over the years here in Ann Arbor.

Personally, my creative process is at it’s best when I have a space to my own, where I can establish my work and a neat mess (yes this is a thing and I know everyone knows what I am talking about). I also thrive off of being surrounded by other artists because I get to watch their unique way of creating in addition to their way of being inspired. After the discovery of how I creatively flourish, I came up with a design for the Stamps building itself and for its curriculum as a whole. After reading “vle”’s blog I decided to share my thoughts on the studios and my idea for Stamp’s future.

Problem(s):

First, second, and third year students don’t have their own space to work in the building. In order to complete work they must go to free classrooms or work at their homes, apartments, or dorms. This causes travel concerns when transporting supplies and the actual pieces of artwork. For the amount of money students pay, I believe they deserve a space to create and inspire others.

Why:

I believe in fixing this issue because of listening to other students concerns. Whenever students speak about this problem, they usually complain instead of problem solve. They and I, adapt to what we have been given because dealing with this problem requires (a lot of) money from the school.

Solution:

I believe Stamps should include a studio space design expansion for their future projects. My idea is to build up on the Stamps building, where the senior studio spaces are now located in the front. The classrooms that are located over the senior spaces now should be moved to a separate addition to the Stamps building itself. There should be four floors for each student based on year. In addition, instead of moving each class every year, when the seniors leave, their floor would be filled with the incoming freshman.

Conclusion:

I think this idea will give students an amazing opportunity to grow and create in their own space for four years at Michigan. It will allow for immense student collaboration and help students connect with the other artists in their class. Although it costs $$$$$$, I believe this would make the art school way more attractive to prospective students and allow for graduated students to rave about the school even more than they do now. Yes… I do realize what I propose is an absurd idea which requires lots of money, work, and effort but just think about it. Let it sink in. Process it. Appreciate it. Love it. Okay, I am done sharing my idea.

Have a beautiful day!