Art studio opens in Carolina residence hall
The studio, a partnership between Arts Everywhere, UNC Housing and the art and art history department, is designed to bring the arts out of museums and into students’ daily lives.
The arts have officially made their way to South Campus.
A new art studio opened in Carolina’s Morrison Residence Hall on Oct. 8, offering students a dedicated creative space to explore visual arts just steps from their dorm rooms.
The Morrison Art Studio, launched by Arts Everywhere in partnership with UNC Housing and Carolina’s art and art history department, is designed to bring the arts out of museums and into students’ daily lives.
Building on Arts Everywhere’s mission of making the arts central to the Carolina experience, the fully-equipped painting studio offers students opportunities to create art without leaving campus — or their residence hall. Located on the ground floor of Morrison, the space features flexible workspaces for students to draw, paint, sketch, store and display all kinds of art.
Emil Kang, special assistant to the chancellor for the arts, said the studio is intended to be the first of more creative spaces on campus where the Carolina community can access the inspiration, imagination and power of the arts.
“We are incredibly excited for the opening of this groundbreaking new space on Carolina’s campus,” Kang said. “With our partners in Carolina Housing and the department of art and art history, we’ve developed a place where every student is free to explore their own creative potential. Our hope is that this is just the beginning in terms of building spaces all over campus that allow our Carolina community to live richly innovative lives, surrounded by unlimited opportunities for creation, learning and growth.”
Director of Housing and Residential Education Allan Blattner said the studio, which was designed using student input, will serve as a resource for both serious artists and art hobbyists.
“The paint studio makes sense for students because it’s an extension of the classroom in their living space,” Blattner said. “If we have an art student who wants a high-quality experience right in their building, they can live in Morrison and have that. If they’ve never picked up a paintbrush and want to give it a try, they can go downstairs and have at it.”
The studio will be managed in part by the first Arts Everywhere fellow Natalie Strait, a fine arts graduate student. As artist-in-residence, Strait will host workshops to teach new techniques, answer questions and advise students.
The Morrison Art Studio will offer free monthly workshops open to students, faculty and staff. For more on the space, visit Arts Everywhere online.
