In an age dominated by iPhones and laptops, some Tufts students still find time to make nifty and ingenious objects using their own creativity and handiwork. Some students silkscreen shirts, blow glass and make their own jewelry and clothing — including even balloon hats.
"I really like to wear a lot of my own things, and I think it's a unique talent that a lot of people have lost in this day and age," sophomore Sara Carnahan said.
Many crafters look to these artistic pursuits as a solace from the academic bustle as they take up thread, wire and paint after a long week of laboring over textbooks.
"I doodle in most classes, and it can be like the coolest artwork that I do because it's not planned and it's like I'm not thinking about it at all. Some of the weirder things are created in my doodles, so then I usually kind of incorporate that [into my crafts]," senior Angela Robins said.
Some students either donate their work to raise money for charity or sell their goods to increase awareness for social causes.
"I went to Uganda this summer, and ... I met all these people who are really poor and really talented, so I didn't want to just leave and be like, ‘OK, good luck with that poverty,'" sophomore Stephanie Tsuji said. "So I bought a bunch of their beads, and I'm trying to sell them here."
Freshman Aliza Howitt enjoys spending her free time working with pottery. "One of my old pottery teachers — he's young so I'm Facebook friends with him — but he put his portfolio on Facebook ... so sometimes I go and look through his photos of his pottery, and it's so pretty, and that inspires me. And then I feel like making pots," Howitt said.
The craftiest place on campus may well be the Crafts Center in the basement of Lewis Hall, which harbors materials
and ideas for the artistically minded. Crafts House residents staff the center and enthusiastically provide advice for visitors. Students use the center to make everything from school projects to one-of-a kind Halloween costumes. The center also hosts workshops throughout the year.
For some students, the crafting community at Tufts offers a creative respite from the grind of coursework and a reminder that the most valuable doohickeys are often the ones people make themselves.
"If you don't have something or if you need something, you don't have to buy it," junior Helen Corless said. "You can make it yourself. And that's kind of a foreign concept to a lot of people and definitely something that I realize I kind of go into automatically. It's just like, ‘Oh, OK, you know, we need a dish-towel rack; let's go
buy one.' But my housemate just went and made one in the center the other day."
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