Boston University will start offering art classes taught by students in the College of Fine Arts, officials said.
CFA Student Government President Alexander Golob said the classes are non-credit courses that will act way to bring art to students who are not necessarily able to commit to credited courses.
“I thought it would be a good way to bring arts to students who don’t necessarily have the opportunity to take classes or the time in their schedules for the massive commitment that an art class can be,” Golob, a CFA sophomore, said.
For a $20 enrollment fee, students can sign up for four weeks of one-and-a-half hour classes each week, Golob said. Specific dates for classes have not yet been decided, but students can sign up at www.facebook.com/BUArtClasses.
“We are open to any skill level, whether you’ve never held a pencil before in your entire life or you’ve taken art classes all throughout elementary, middle or high school,” he said. “We’ll meet the students at the level they are at.”
The classes would encourage students to be a part of the arts community at BU, while providing student teachers with valuable experience, Golob said.
“I personally believe that art is nourishing to the soul and helps you express yourself,” Golob said. “In addition to that, for the students who are teaching it, it’s an opportunity to learn how to teach and learn important skills for whether they go into teaching or whether they go into any job.”
The Monday, Wednesday and Thursday classes are set for fundamental drawing, the Tuesday class for sequential drawing, which is essentially comic book drawing.
“We are offering them this semester so we can use them as a pilot to gauge people’s interest, gauge what works and what doesn’t, and then depending on that we are going see what works better for next semester,” he said.
BU Arts Initiative Director Ty Furman said the courses are beneficial in that they allow students to both teach and experience the arts.
“Any opportunity that anybody gets to either train or experience the arts is great,” he said. “We know that there are tons of students who have had arts experiences in high school and would enjoy continuing to have those experiences but don’t want to necessarily major or minor or get graded in a class.”
CFA Student Government member Maddy McKeever, a freshman, said the classes will inform student from other colleges about the fundamentals of visual arts.
“A lot of people would be interested in the classes, and it would be fun to spread art awareness,” she said.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Ellie Hitt said while she would not particularly want to take any courses, she thinks it could be beneficial for students looking to experiment with visual arts.
“My roommate did lots of art at home and has mentioned how she wants to continue to work here, but doesn’t have a space,” she said. “It would be a really nice place for students to meet and gather who like art but aren’t looking to make a living by it.”
School of Management sophomore Collin Erickson said these courses would be good for students who have little exposure to the arts throughout their time at BU.
“I believe that any student who would like to take a risk or further develop their current understanding of an art should have that ability [to do so],” he said.
Lauren Miller, a CAS senior, said she has always wanted to take art classes while studying at BU.
“That’s an awesome idea,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do that since I was a freshman, but I’ve never had room in my course schedule.”
Miller said the classes would be a good resource for those who want to try art but who might not have access to the right equipment.
“A lot of people don’t necessarily have the right equipment or the right utensils if they wanted to experiment with painting or drawing,” she said. “I actually tried to get into an introductory COM course just so I could take a break from my studies and do something artistic… It would be so fun for people who don’t get to be exposed to that.”
Rachel Riley contributed to the reporting of this article.
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