Kreative Katies: Can the Visual Arts Building be saved?
By Jena Mustafa
Art is fading in the blink of an eye. St. Catherine University is known for its strong emphasis on educating students in the healthcare field, yet this has begun to overshadow its reputation as a liberal arts college. Recently, there has been a decline in the number of art students enrolled at St. Kate’s. Due to this issue, there is a proposed plan to take down the Visual Arts Building on campus, as noted in St. Catherine University’s five-year plan.
Unfortunately, this trend is not just a problem at St. Catherine University. The arts have been in decline in universities across the United States. To counteract this, students at St. Catherine University have banded together to save the Visual Arts Building.
One way students are trying to save the Visual Arts Building is through a new club: the Kreative Katies. The goal of this club is to raise awareness of the Visual Arts Building and provide students with a safe space to express their creativity through art. “We learned from the Involvement Fair, not a lot of people know [the Visual Arts Building] exists. A lot of underclassmen don’t know,” said Sophia Mazzolini ‘28 (Studio Art, Psychology minor, she/her). There is hope that by creating art for fun with the Kreative Katies in the Visual Arts Building, there will be an increase in comfort from others to use the building more often, which will reduce the chances of the building being taken down.
In addition, this club is not only for art students. The point of the club is to give anyone, with any level of art skills, a chance to comfortably exercise their creative side. Sometimes, students just need a break from their schoolwork, jobs and classes, and sometimes, creating is that break. “We just want everyone to feel welcome, and make it a very accessible art space because art can seem very intimidating,” says Mazzolini.
The Kreative Katie leaders are dedicated to bringing about positive change to the fate of the Visual Arts Building. To make art more accessible and encourage student participation, the club plans to provide all necessary art supplies for its events. The club believes that all students should have the opportunity to explore their creativity, regardless of their major. By increasing the use of the Visual Arts Building, they hope the institution will recognize its importance to the student body and revise its initial plans.
After the Visual Arts Building was condemned to what seemed to be an irredeemable fate, Kreative Katie’s provides a spark of hope. Only time will tell if the student body can rally behind them to save it.
