Anita Varma Contributing Editor

Vassar students are involved in a variety of official campus groups, from sports teams to Vassar Student Association organizations. But students who harbor little-known talents without a structured club backing them can have a difficult time finding an outlet for their work.

To help address this issue for student artists, Noah Fowler ’09 and Samantha Stein ’09 have planned Vassar’s first ArtSwap. It will be held on Thursday, Feb. 15 in the Faculty Commons.

ArtSwap is a community-based art show in which artists can present their work. At the end of the event, there will be a drawing for people to swap their pieces. Stein said that this will be done through a lottery. “It’s great because it doesn't assign any monetary value to the pieces of art.”

ArtSwap ’07 is based on an event that Fowler attended in August 2006 called The Great Art Swap! in Troy, NY. “[The Great Art Swap!] was held in a little hole-in-the-wall place that reminded me of the Cubby Hole [a coffeehouse on Raymond Avenue],” said Fowler. “It felt very communal. People who didn’t know each other were going up to each other to talk about their art…and reaffirming that what they’re doing is cool and important and not something that should be hidden.”

The Great Art Swap! used a ranking system to trade art pieces, while Vassar’s version will be done at random.

The majority of contributors to ArtSwap ’07 are Vassar students, along with Associate Professor of Art Peter Charlap. Stein noted that they solicited submissions from both studio art majors and “artsy people” who might not be enrolled in formal art classes. Stein and Fowler said that pieces at the ArtSwap will include paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media and possibly sculpture.

Fowler said that he hopes this show will be a springboard for a future ArtSwap that will include Poughkeepsie artists as well.

Stein and Fowler said that they were motivated to organize ArtSwap because there are not many venues for student artists to display their work.

“Creativity in general is kind of a cool thing to be around, and I’d like to try to focus it into one room for some period of time,” said Fowler. “I feel like there’s a blank space at this school for this kind of thing.” Fowler and Stein expressed interest in turning ArtSwap into an annual undertaking, noting that they would gauge interest and feasibility based on this year’s event.

ArtSwap ’07 will be held in the Faculty Commons from 5-7:30 p.m., and there is no cover charge to attend. The event is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College and Davison House.