Some have suggested opening more space for artists in Uris Hall.

We all came to Columbia lured by the multitude of opportunities offered in a city like New York. After all, weren’t we just named first among the Ivies by Wall Street Journal, mostly because of our access to facilities? What happens then, if you come to Columbia University in the City of New York expecting the facilities of a world-class university in the premier city of the world, yet don’t find the sort of support you anticipated? Bwogger Gabrielle Kloppers investigates this real phenomenon in the context of the visual arts.

Most visual arts students arrive at Columbia expecting the full world of New York art opened up to them, with the support of numerous Columbia alumni that have made it in the arts. When they arrive on campus, however, it becomes clear that arts aren’t the clear focus of an institution like Columbia. In particular, the visual arts prove to be one of the most sidelines aspects of our university, with very few opportunities available outside of the traditional visual arts curriculum. There are three ways to connect with the visual arts at Columbia as an undergraduate: through the fine arts major, through extra-curricular organizations such as Postcrypt and Ratrock Magazine, and by connecting with the arts scene in New York at large.

The Visual Arts curriculum at Columbia is highly developed, with a multitude of skilled professors and interesting opportunities available to visual arts majors. However, many visual arts majors feel sidelined by the department, especially when they have not yet declared their majors. In order to graduate with a major in Visual Arts, it is necessary to take several studio classes and build up a portfolio of work. These studio classes are small and limited in number, and thus many potential majors fail to gain placement into them, especially within their first few years here. This means that they also fail to build up the necessary relationships with the Visual Arts faculty at Columbia, and makes it difficult to feel part of a community of artists. This effect is compounded by the lack of available extra-curricular Visual Arts communities.

Until last year, there were two primary ways to connect with the visual arts community at Columbia. One of these is the Columbia Artist’s Society, which sponsors two figure drawing sessions a week, where all are welcome. The primary way to have visual art recognized on campus was by curating or presenting through Postcrypt, a gallery space for undergraduate visual artists. They periodically put on shows in the basement of St Paul’s chapel, the most recent of which was Codex, a show which presented the sketchbooks, notebooks and collections of a group of undergraduate artists. Up until last year, there was no undergraduate visual arts magazine available for artists to submit their work to, and the Spectator removed their arts section, illustrating the distinct lack of focus on showcasing the work of undergraduate artists. The gap in visual arts representation was closed in part when Ratrock Magazine opened last year, ran by an enterprising group of Columbia and Barnard Undergraduates who noticed the distinct lack of space for the visual arts on campus.

Ratrock Magazine pledges to ‘provide a platform for Columbia and Barnard students to showcase their art’, and aims to ‘foster collaboration between artists in the Columbia community by producing creative projects across a range of media’. They have proved successful in fostering these collaborations, particularly due to a willingness to work with other campus outlets for the arts at large, such as Rare Candy, Postcrypt and Hoot Magazine. Through these contacts, Ratrock has been able to build up an impressive profile of several artists on campus in a short time period. However, as a relatively new publication, Ratrock is still working at building up a campus presence that will establish them as an influencer of the visual arts within the Columbia community.

Outside of curricular and extra-curricular activities, the whole world of New York City art should be at the feet of Columbia students. Tools like Lionshare should hypothetically make it easy for Columbia students to connect with the world of visual arts beyond the confines of Morningside Heights. However, most students simply don’t feel that they have the time to hold down demanding visual arts internships during the school semester, and consequently hope to build a community within Morningside Heights that provides the support they need during the school semester.

It is this visual arts community that Columbia has failed to build. Involvement in Postcrypt, Ratrock or the Student Artist’s Society may give students some necessary connections, but often students outside of these organizations fail to notice the opportunities available, or feel that they are difficult to access. It is necessary if Columbia continues to market itself as a school that offers everything that they improve the availability of these options, and make it easier for students interested in Visual Arts to connect on campus.

One option in achieving this goal could be to establish Special Interest Housing for the Visual Arts. There are numerous Special Interest Communities available, such as Q House, Jazz House, Potluck House and Writers House. These communities have proved integral in promoting these activities on campus and allowing students to form necessary connections. However, there is no such opportunity for students of the Visual Arts, and establishing a Special Interest community for these students could fill a very large gap.

The issue of support for the arts runs deeper than simply the Visual Arts. Despite more opportunities available for writers, musicians, and other artists, many feel that Columbia could be devoting more space and time to these areas. Those who propose that Uris should be devoted to the performing arts after the business school moves to Manhattanville are proponents of this idea.

Ultimately, although student-led initiatives such as Postcrypt, Ratrock and the Artists Society are bringing the arts forward at Columbia, there is more university support necessary in order to create a true community.