Valerie Pymento
The NC State Crafts Center, located in Thompson Hall, offers workshops and classes throughout each semester to provide students and the public with opportunities to create their own masterpieces.
Paul Cash, the Crafts Center office manager and NC State alum, recognizes the uniqueness of this facility on a college campus.
“We’re very fortunate; we’re one of the few colleges in the entire United States that has a center like this on campus,” Cash said. “That makes us unique among college campuses and a great resource. It’s definitely something I wish I would’ve known about when I was in school.”
Katy Walls, the Crafts Center studio technician and NC State alum, sums up the purpose of the Crafts Center.
“The Crafts Center exists to augment the experience of students on campus — period,” Walls said.
The Crafts Center builds community by connecting people from various backgrounds in a single space and over a single topic such as photography, pottery, watercolor painting or jewelry. Cash enjoys the community building that happens there as a result of the wide range of ages of participants.
“One of the cool things is we’re not just open to students, we’re also open to the general public,” Cash said. “I think that adds a really cool intergenerational aspect to the community, one that’s rare for a college campus crowd. It gives you the opportunity to expand your community not just within your age group, but amongst it. We have people up to 80 and 90 years old taking classes and participating in the studio. It provides such a more textured experience to have that many different types of people from different walks of life in here learning at the same time.”
Morgane Leong Hune To, a fourth-year studying marketing, views taking a class or workshop at the Crafts Center as a bonding experience for people with similar interests.
“It reunites people who have the same interests and passion,” Leong Hune To said. “No matter what their specialization, age, gender, nationality or race is. It helps bring people together. It’s a very great idea and a good way to meet others.”
Another great benefit of the Crafts Center is its usefulness to any major or discipline. Walls brings attention to the participation of non-humanities students in the arts and encourages it for all.
“Everyone is welcome,” Walls said. “The mantra of the Arts at NC State is ‘The arts are for everyone.’ We really think that it’s paramount to get as many students hands on in art as possible. It’s really rewarding to see science and STEM students get into an art and then realize that they can apply it to their course study, and that changes and morphs the way they think about art. Those are really special moments.”
Leong Hune To said crafts help with her discipline in marketing by inspiring her to create.
“I feel like in my major we need creativity, and, of course, crafting helps with that,” Leong Hune To said. “It helps with expressing. It’s personally a way to relax. I draw a lot. I craft a lot. Having this on campus is really really really cool.”
The Crafts Center offers students mental health benefits through a relaxing study environment, Counseling Center resources and a chance to grow and be resilient. Cash talked about the relief crafts provide from the digital world we live in.
“We’re so inundated,” Cash said. “It’s so hard for people to pull themselves away from the screen. You have to do that with crafts. You’re taking your mind off the day’s worries, and putting your mind, heart and attention into whatever you’re making. The benefits from that — I can barely scratch the surface.”
Visit the Crafts Center website for more information on events and offerings.