“It’s a very improvisational class, to say the least,” notes Gavin Siegert ’16, one of the three members of an art independent study that came to fruition through an odd series of events.

Amy Juang ’16 summarizes the path to the class’s creation: “more than 2/3 of our Design class dropped out, so we walked into class the first day, and [Jim Spector] was like ‘sorry, the class is cancelled.’”

In order to avoid leaving the students hanging, Spector offered an independent study to the remaining artists. The class, comprised of Siegert, Juang, and Susannah Hollander ’16, is almost completely self-guided.

In the beginning of the semester, Spector had many frozen ice buckets in preparation for the class. The independent study students chose to take advantage of the material, creating unique ice sculptures located on the walkway into the science wing.

The rest of the spring is largely undecided for the students. Siegert is considering pursuing printmaking projects and possibly furthering his own art form, which he calls eye activation. “I take photos and then change their properties and make a totally different image but still using only the photo so its not like any external material was added.” He may record his process as he creates unique visual art.

Juang has a wide-range of artistic interests, and almost all of them include a tactile element. “I like doing things with my hands,” she says of her passions for fabric manipulation, sewing, and even furniture construction–a project Spector planned for the design class and may still be able to do with Juang.

Given the small class size and open calendar, all three artists plan to use the open time and available resources to continue their art explorations.