From drawing to sculpture, art classes both foster creativity and promote awareness and appreciation of artistic expression. These classes are a chance for students to decompress, explore and create — all while learning and fulfilling college credit. Despite these worthwhile efforts toward creative learning and expression, art classes at Georgetown University have financial barriers for many interested students. To create a stronger arts program on campus, art classes should cover all student costs for the necessary supplies.
The art classes offered at Georgetown this semester include drawing, acrylic paint, oil painting, sculpture, photography and more. This semester, I attempted to find and enroll in an arts class to complete my HALC (Humanities: Art, Literature, and Cultures) requirement, and I decided to try photography. After receiving the syllabus for the class, I immediately ran into a problem: the cost. The camera models recommended by the department ranged from $450 to $1,800 for a new camera and from $300 to $1,500 for a used camera. Even at its lowest price, a camera isn’t cheap. $300 is worth three online economics textbooks, dozens of fiction books, a handful of nice meals and much more. While there is the option to rent cameras from Lauinger Library, the supply is limited.
One might expect an expensive buy-in to the photography class. However, other art classes present the same issues. Oil painting, for example, also requires that students purchase most supplies on their own dime, including canvases, Gamblin oil paint, brushes, palette knives, a silicoil jar and painter’s tape. Assuming students have no art supplies at home, the Amazon purchase would be worth 100 dollars. Even for students who go to local art stores with lower prices, getting supplies wouldn’t be cheap.
Many art classes count toward the HALC requirement, which is meant to foster student creativity and imagination for interacting with visual representations and human expression. When I tried to take art to fulfill this requirement, I was ultimately discouraged from doing so because of the high cost of supplies for a class that I would be taking for one semester. It didn’t make sense to pay hundreds of additional dollars to fulfill a requirement I’m already paying tuition for, especially at an elite private institution like Georgetown.
Yes, other classes require out-of-pocket expenses for textbooks, but the comparison isn’t direct. Most class readings don’t cost upwards of $100. This semester, I spent only $35 on required books for all six classes. Other classes either didn’t require the textbook or provided all the readings for me. The fact that my other core classes, including theology, philosophy and history, either post readings on Canvas or choose readings that are easily accessible in Lauinger Library, resulted in my art class presenting the largest financial barrier so far.
Some might argue that art should be exclusive because those who aren’t “serious” about art shouldn’t be pursuing it in the first place. However, that idea promotes the mentality that creativity and expression are exclusive. Just because a student is hesitant to dedicate years of time and money to a field doesn’t mean that they don’t see the value in it. On the contrary, art exists as a field to be appreciated, to be admired and to be wondered at. It goes against the very foundation of art to make it exclusive for any student who might find it interesting and rewarding.
For that reason, art classes at Georgetown should cover all supplies so that any student, regardless of their financial status, can participate in the arts. While there is the difficulty of knowing the amount of supplies to buy, there are several solutions. For instance, art classes can purchase supplies for the maximum number of students who can enroll. They could also base it on class enrollment after waitlists are purged or the add/drop period ends. Even if more supplies are purchased than needed, these art classes could store the extra materials for future use.
All art, from the Venus de Milo to a first grader’s sketch, is precious. Art represents a curiosity about the world around us, and it is human instinct to communicate that world and our feelings while in it. Being able to understand, analyze and replicate art is not only a skill but a talent and a gift. All students, no matter their financial circumstances, should be able to explore the arts during their time at Georgetown, not necessarily to become the next Rembrandt, but to appreciate its value.
Karina Bhatt is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service.
