I think this a wonderful idea. Why have such a nice attraction if it is going to look so nasty.

I love this idea. I'm not an art or engineering major but I love to make and build stuff so this is perfect. Plus the Creative Center would be another great gathering place for students who stay on weekends when everything else is closed.

Thanks guys. Our floor plan includes a corner with a couch, chairs, and table if you just want to chill out and see what other people are up to.

The video is down right now, but just by reading the proposal I think this is my favorite idea. I'd love to hang out and see what people create.

I think it would also be cool if there were people around who were willing to help others with their art-- maybe there could be little art classes to help people with little art experience figure out the best way to go about painting or whittling or sculpting.

The video is down right now, but just by reading the proposal I think this is my favorite idea. I'd love to hang out and see what people create.

I think it would also be cool if there were people around who were willing to help others with their art-- maybe there could be little art classes to help people with little art experience figure out the best way to go about painting or whittling or sculpting.

I want this idea to happen so badly. I would love to have a place to go and draw, or carve wood, or knit.

I'm excited about this project because of the funding for the Biodiesel Project! I can't wait to see vehicles running on the waste vegetable oil from campus fryers and other local fryers. Also, this would be a great resource for being able to make movies from 1AM-4AM or a place to go and destress in the midst of late night studying.

There are a few concerns that I would like to raise about the Creative
Center idea.

First, I don’t believe that a 20’x 24’ structure will be large enough to
accommodate all of the tools, supplies and people that would potentially
be located there. This is approximately the size of the Erickson lobby.
If this project really appealed to a large percentage of the school
population then you have to have space that can handle large numbers of
people. Even our idea of utilizing the UC for the Study Place is pushing
the boundaries in terms of space.

Also, it seems that the estimate for the cost of building a whole new
structure, whether a garage type structure or other, would cost more than
$16,000. And if you intend to expand the space then you are looking at a
significant price increase.

I also do not understand how you would maintain materials and supplies
over the long term. It does not appear to be self-sustaining. You can
probably get donations to help start if off, but if people use the space
then the supplies will need to be replenished often.

In addition, the idea of a creative center will most certainly generate
noise. If you place it in a residential area then you will have problems
with disturbing people who are trying to sleep or study in their dorms.

Thanks again for your support everyone. The classes are an interesting idea Lar. One of our plans to help implement this should it come to fruition is to form an student organization tasked with maintaining it and promoting its use. I think it'd be fantastic if they organized seminars from time to time for faculty or talented students to come and teach their craft.

For the concerns: the creative center is 40'x24', not 20'x24', we think we'll have enough space to put everything and still hopefully have some room to expand. We would be getting a structure similar to this: http://waterloostructures.net/DoubleWide.html, which can be obtained for the $16,000 listed.

The center is primarily for tools and space (lack of the latter has been haunting our club since its inception, so I'm sure other clubs could use some more space also). If you wanted to sew something, it would be a lot easier to buy your own thread than to buy your own thread and your own sewing machine; the former is possible and encouraged with the student creative center. Also in my experiences working with clubs, we've often had left over materials that just get shuffled back into storage and forgotten, generally taking up more space than they're worth. We hope that clubs using the creative center for their activities will in turn donate such superfluous materials for everyone to use. We also plan for the club to have fund raisers to support the center, including making and selling art pieces, chairs, etc. made in the center.

We don't expect many people to be hammering sheet metal at 4 in the morning. Also if someone was intent on making something or finishing their project, would you rather them make it in a garage a few hundred yards away from your room, or have to make it in their room, on the other side of a cinder block from your room?

Hope that addressed some of your concerns.

I do like the idea, but I just don't see it appealing and being useful to a large percentage of the students. Like me for example, who has very little artistic ability. I even have some friends that are art majors that said they probably would find little use from it. A large percentage of our community are commuters and I can see it being out of their way to have to travel across campus for this.

Good luck Friday!

I think its kind of a good idea but unlike those in support I am pursuing a major requiring a lot of credits. Therefore I do not have free time to knit and make things out of clay.

I'm a chemical engineering major, which I think requires the most credits of anything on campus (108). You've got to go out there and get involved and try new things and screw up from time to time, thats what this is all about. If you just spend all your time in classes you'll be in 13th grade.

Also again, for those of you (like myself actually) who prefer useful things to pretty things, there are more tools here than just art stuff. I went home one weekend and built a footstool to put under my desk so I could recline and put my feet up; the SCC would have the capability to do that too.

Thanks Ian, good luck to you too. If we win, I hope you'll give something a shot out there, paint a chess board maybe?

This sounds like a great idea to me.

I think that this is a great idea. I would love a place that could serve as both a reference for people interested in creating unique and different, and as an experiemental place where people can try out their inventions, drawings, sculptures, etc, without having to leave when another class comes in or having to depend on the few books in our library.

And this is great opportunity for people to get in touch with the more neglected right side of their brains and develop their cpabilities more as students.

Also, when people are around other creative people, then inspiration can go through the roof. For example, if someone is attempting to draw or paint, then they could watch people working on something, take something from it, and make a complete new creation, something to be proud of.

Until the new fine arts building is made in 2016 this would be just as good.

Oh, and I'm not a visual arts major, which lets people reading this know that not only are art majors interested in this thing. A large majority of people would try to create something, if they had the correct chance, and tools.

UMBC, please choose this one.

Thought you might be interested in a potential floorplan that was submitted with the proposal. Here's a link:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj258/feloniuscrumb/scc.jpg

It's not set in stone, but it shows how much space would be available and some of the ideas of what it could be used for. Here is also a link to a folder with a word document that shows photographs of a similar shed and cost comparisons if you are interested!

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~dr1/SCC/

Check it out!

While this may be a decent idea, unlike those in support of it I have a serious major requiring many credits. As a result I don't have time to knit or make things out of clay. I believe this campaign is about approving the project that will benefit the majority not a small percentage.

I love this idea. It would provide a place to step outside of studying and explore more. It would also be a great meeting place for student organizations to work on projects. I'd love to see a printer there that students could hook their laptops up to and print out things for parts of creative projects, or plans for projects. As a psych major and a commuter I don't have anywhere on campus where I can sit and paint, or work on personal art projects. I would love to have a space like that. I can't work at home in the middle of the night but I prefer to do art work at night, and this would be a great safe place to go do that.

I know I would be happy to help other students who want to learn about drawing, painting, sewing etc. I think it is completely reasonable for students to bring my own supplies, and I'd be willing to share any extra left over supplies with other students.

If it came to it, I would support a small student fee increase to help finance some basic supplies.

Oh and I am a HUGE fan of the coffee maker.

Thanks Tim,

If we win, we would certainly like your input in developing our study areas.

Our video is up on UMBCtube! Check it out!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M-N_X5ufgkY&feature=PlayList&p=2D7BD429DCE68A99&index=2

I would like to know what will happen when the Creative Center runs out of supplies?????

Bio-diesel guy this sounds like personal gain for you, doesn't sound like your interested in the whole communal gain.

But think that if you need to make a presentation, this center could be used to make a Great visual for that presentation.

I like this idea.

Just my personal ideas, if the creative center provides things like nice drafting tables, workbench space, tools, sewing machine etc. basically access to the space and hardware. I think it's reasonable for people to bring their own consumables. For the most part I know I would want to pick out my own paper, fabric, wood or whatever for most of my projects anyway. Student orgs could always just individually request funds for their projects from the SGA.

Supplies will be donated by clubs with extras and found on craigslist. The center primarily gives you space (a much higher premium than some might expect) and the tools. You might have to buy your own wood or thread, but you won't have to buy your own drill or sewing machine.

Our committee took the Biodiesel club on board. One concern is that too many people (see this week's TRW) think this is for making "arts and crafts" like you'd do in kindergarten. The Biodiesel club will help us promote the center's vast utility by using its tools to build a functional biodiesel reactor and show everyone what it is we're capable of and thereby encourage it to be used and taken seriously.

will the building that you plan to use have heating and/or air conditioning? the link to the picture of it didnt work, but from the main page all of the structures look like sheds.

I think climate control is actually required for health regulations, so we'll definitely have something. Probably fans and windows during the warm months and some form of heating during the cold months.

The building will be required to have HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) because it will be a public building at a public university. Also it will make the building more usable for the the entire year.

I generally like this idea, but I think the logistics of it may be hard to work out. It doesn't seem like you've addressed the idea of staffing such a center, or how "security" (although it was mentioned) would be handled. I think with the type of materials involved, vandalism could be easy and would occur without some sort of staffing. Paying a student to be there 24 hours would have to be included in some sort of budgeting. Would a redcard be required to enter it, like with Harbor? As someone posted in a comment above me, it possibly need HVAC, or at least some form of heating and cooling. That could be a very significant expense. I think if you had a student there, they could possibly sell small things, such as thread or paper, which might bring a little income, but if there isn't a large percentage of the campus using this than I don't see how this will be self-sustaining. I think in the long run it will be a drain and not financially viable. I really do like the idea, but I just don't think its practical unless the university plans to step up and fund this in the long run.

Mary,

If you read our proposal you will see all the details to cover security. It is impractical to have a staff there 24/7 because of the cost; it would cost $54,000 for 24 hr coverage 300 days a year at $7.50 per hour. Access to the building will be restricted to those who want access, you will have to sign up via myUMBC to have your red card work for access to the building, so you will have to have thought about using the facility and not just randomly breaking stuff. Access to some of the more expensive/fragile equipment will require secondary permission so we can keep track of who is using the equipment in case anything happens to something, in which case that person may be held liable for the damages.

I've looked at the proposal and at all the comments about the floor plan and what the building will look like and my only question at the moment is...where would this be located??

It will be located wherever facilities management wants it to be located to fit in with the campus's long term plan. The spot we'd pick if we could put it anywhere is in the area between Susquehanna, the Dining Hall, and the Interfaith Center.

UMBC students need to take advantage of it's liberal arts college status, and learn from each other's disciplines. This would be the perfect place to do so! I feel like the biggest plus about being a UMBC student is how much I learn from having friends from all majors, and how many ideas were made possible because of that.

This is a wonderful idea, and I believe it is the strongest and most thought-out of the proposals. It is a true example of what a diverse group of UMBC students can be capable of! Good luck! :)