On Jan. 22, Cal Poly’s Associated Students Incorporated (ASI) Craft Center reopened after six months of renovations, offering new classes and updated safety features, according to ASI Assistant Director of Student Engagement and Assessment Jill Baxter.
The Craft Center now offers quarter-long classes in surfboard shaping, ceramics and stained glass as well as workshops in jewelry-making, knitting, crocheting and painting, Baxter explained. The primary reason for the Craft Center’s $250,000 renovation was to add updated fire sprinklers as well as other safety features, Baxter said.
After removing its bike shop, flame-working and woodworking areas due to safety concerns and liability issues, the Craft Center revamped and expanded its surfboard shaping, ceramics and stained glass studios. The Craft Center will be adding further workshops in the coming months as well, Baxter said.
Playing a key role in the stained glass studio renovations is Ella Tune, a stained glass instructor and graphic communications junior, who helped design and build the stained glass studio from scratch.
“We’ve gotten a lot of creative freedom on how we want to build the studio,” Tune said. “We’ve had a much bigger budget than I thought so we’ve gotten to buy a lot of new materials and [equipment] we’ve never had before like a ring saw and a kiln.”
Tune first fell in love with the art of stained glass at the Craft Center last year and is now paying it forward as an instructor teaching stained glass classes twice a week.
“It’s really cool to describe a creative process to someone and see how it hits people in different ways and what they create out of it,” Tune said. “Teaching is such a fun way to meet people, and it’s so cool to see people get into their niches within the class they choose to take.”
Business junior Avery Simpson, a student in one of Tune’s stained glass classes, said she is excited to be back in the Craft Center exploring a new art form.
“I’ve seen stained glass before and it’s obviously so beautiful, but you’d never think, ‘Oh I can [make] that myself,’” Simpson said. “There’s definitely a lot involved in [stained glass] that I didn’t expect there to be, so I’m really excited to learn more.”
Students must pay to enroll in quarter-long classes and workshops, with workshop prices around $30 and quarter-long classes ranging from $65 to $350 depending on the course, according to the Craft Center website. The Craft Center also offers monthly and quarterly passes in ceramics and surfboard shaping for those who do not require instruction, with prices ranging from $30 to $60.
Baxter emphasized that one of her primary focuses during this renovation was to make the Craft Center more affordable than outside studio spaces for students.
“Using a studio space and getting to fire your work [and] use clay is typically a couple of hundred dollars [at other studios, and our prices are] $60 a month,” Baxter said. “We tried to make this as affordable for students as possible while still making sure we have the funds to [maintain] a safe space.”
Though Tune greatly appreciates the artistic opportunities offered at the Craft Center, her favorite aspect is the community the Craft Center provides.
“It’s a nice place [for everyone] to be creative during the middle of the day in between classes. Humans are creative beings and people are meant to be creative – I hope that people are not intimidated by [the Craft Center],” Tune said.