ArtEx students find community by leaning into creativity

Sébastien Guillotin signed up for ArtEx because he wanted the experience of working with different artistic media like glassblowing, printmaking, and welding. But the biggest asset of the program, he said, is the community of people learning alongside him.

“There hasn’t been a workshop I’ve left where I didn’t go out to lunch with the other people after we finished. I really do feel like it’s been one of the fastest communities that I’ve made friends in,” said Guillotin, a second-year new media interactive development student from Cary, N.C.

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Sébastien Guillotin, left, said that a highlight of his ArtEx experience has been working in the Glass Hot Shop. Above, he shapes a glass paperweight that was later displayed for exhibition in RIT’s University Gallery.

ArtEx creates opportunities for students outside of RIT’s College of Art and Design to participate in creative and collaborative experiences by granting special access to engage with the studios, resources, and expertise available within the School for American Crafts and School of Art.

There are over 50 programs represented in the ArtEx community, which comprises roughly 250 students who come from every undergraduate college at RIT.

If Guillotin hadn’t been able to use facilities like the Glass Hot Shop through ArtEx, he may never have discovered the joy of getting creative with glass, one of his favorite artistic mediums.

“ArtEx has really opened the art world to me and exposed me to opportunities on campus that I just didn’t know were there before,” he said. “To me, ArtEx is total freedom. There’s never a requirement to participate, and there are never any grades. I think that’s invaluable.”

The ArtEx program has evolved in many ways since launching in 2023. This year, under the leadership of Visiting Lecturer Annalisa Barron, the program has implemented several changes, such as:

• Streamlining workshop schedules: Workshops are typically hosted during a concentrated week each month. A concentrated schedule increases student interactions and allows for more community building within the ArtEx cohort.
• Increasing mentorship opportunities for graduate students: ArtEx workshops are typically taught by graduate student instructors from the College of Art and Design. This year, select instructors designed workshop experiences based on their own personal expertise that will be taught during the spring semester.

“Something I’ve observed is there is this extreme increase in interest of people wanting to work with their hands. People are hungry for ways to channel their experiences into some kind of expressive form,” said Barron. “ArtEx allows students to have some time where they’re able to really do something that’s embodied—something that isn’t on a screen and gives them face-to-face contact with other people who have a shared interest.”

Ceramics and printmaking have become two of Dylan Lowe Keffer’s favorite media to explore when they aren’t studying for their biomedical sciences courses. When the second-year student chose to come to RIT to pursue a dual-degree in biomedical sciences and health and wellbeing management, finding an artistic outlet was non-negotiable. 

Creating without boundaries, and without concern for earning a good grade, offered a healthy outlet for them to decompress from their heavy courseload. It also helped them grow in unexpected ways.

“I really enjoy mixing the sciences that I’m learning with the art I’m creating,” said Lowe Keffer, from Lenexa, Kan. “A lot of the science work I do has visual aspects to it. Working with the different art media allows me to visualize things in new ways.”

Like Guillotin, Lowe Keffer has learned many new skills through ArtEx, but the most valuable thing the program has given them are friendships and connections.

“I really like that the program exposes me to people that aren’t from the same major or year level as I am. It’s really grounding for me,” they said. “With ArtEx, I’m not constantly just thinking about my assignments or classes. I have school, and then I have this other thing that connects me to the campus beyond academics. It’s making me more balanced in every aspect of my life.”

Go to the ArtEx program website, or email Annalisa Barron at azbfaa@rit.edu, for more information about its program offerings and how to get involved.