On a Friday evening, in a cool artist’s studio on the fifth floor of Dodge Hall, a nude woman, arms folded and head turned slightly to the right, sits on a white platform beside a bouquet of brightly colored flowers. The room is quiet, with the exception of a Radiohead song playing softly in the background and the sound of charcoal gently grazing the sketchbooks of the artists surrounding the platform.
This is one of the weekly figure-drawing sessions, offered Friday nights and Saturday mornings, and the core of the Artist Society. The Artist Society, founded in January 2006 by a group of undergraduate students, aims to offer visual artists both from the University and the city the opportunity to foster their craft in a peaceful, low-stress environment.
The club also cosponsors student exhibits with Postcrypt Art Gallery and offers larger outdoor figure drawing sessions like “Models on the Sundial” during the spring.
Many who attend the figure-drawing sessions are not students but other University affiliates who want to relax and hone their technique. Scott Jefferson, a swim instructor at Dodge Fitness Center, says that though he has been to other figure-drawing sessions, the Artist Society sessions are his favorite. “The sessions are quite relaxing, very mellow, non-competitive and pleasant,” he said.
“I think it’s a great way for undergraduate and graduate students to come together and speak and have some kind of communication,” said Artist Society president Amy Chen, SEAS ’13. “If you’re interested in talking to people and socializing you can do that, but there are also people that come every week and don’t say a word and just draw.”
The Artist Society has no official membership process and has no studio or material fees. Instead, it comprises some 200 unofficial members, drawn from all corners of Morningside Heights. The club invites participants at all levels of artistic experience. Those without experience, or spending money, can help themselves to the communal pastels, charcoal, and paper, next to the communal cookies up for grabs.
Visual artists at Columbia have few outlets for their creative pursuits outside of the classroom. The Artist Society is one of the three undergraduate arts organizations on the Columbia campus, along with Postcrypt Gallery, which focuses primarily on curating works of art, and the Columbia University Photography Society.
The Artist Society provides a much-needed space for people who value drawing as a necessary part of their lives. “When I was in high school I was really involved with art,” vice president Christine Hsu, BC ’13, said. “So when I came to college, it was a little bit of a shock at first. When I went to my first Friday night session it was amazing. College-life-changing.”
The Artist Society meets Fridays from 6-8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10-12 a.m.
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