SCAD students discuss adaptive workspaces

Written and Photographed by Hannah Siner

An artist’s workspace is very important to them. It’s a place for them to create and feel comfortable. It’s a space that allows them to express themselves and work peacefully. After talking to four different people a lot of them work out of their homes. Due to COVID-19, they’ve had to readjust how they work and how they create. A lot of them have had to make a makeshift studio within their own home.

Celeste Melgar, a fourth-year painting student, said she changed her room into a studio space during lockdown to adapt and create space for painting. Melgar said she had considered applying for a personal studio space through school before COVID-19 due to a lack of space. “My old apartment was smaller and I needed more room to work. But because I had to make that shift during lockdown, I realized that A, that it was doable, and B, I’ve come to enjoy the space.”

Meglar said she realized she is not the type of artist who needs to get out of the house and have extra room to be creative, as long as she has separation from work and home. As an artist, she’s become more comfortable working with what she calls “organized chaos”: separate spaces for her stamps, stencils, and acrylics. Another section for her work-in-progresses and completed works. There is a corner of her room where natural light comes in two different directions. When the day goes on, she can just move her easel and have the light come in through a different window.

Von Armstrong, a fourth-year photography student, works in an analog process. Armstrong said he prefers to shoot portraits and use natural light to light the scene, so he doesn’t typically need a studio set up like the average studio lighting photographer may need. “I like [analog] over digital. Film feels more like I’m painting with the light.” He has a small makeshift set up in his apartment for assignments that require studio lighting, but he will often go outside to shoot. He does rely on school studio spaces to be open to work on projects. When we think of studio spaces we think of where the photographer takes the photo. But it’s more than that because for Armstrong and other analog photographers it’s the process and developing area that is needed as well.

Kelsey Necowitz, a first-year visual effects graduate student, said she had a hard time working during COVID-19 due to a lack of studio space and resources to complete projects. Previously, she had relied on school resources. Until June, Necowitz said she just worked on a laptop, but now, she works from her apartment with a desktop. One of her classes requires her to learn how to use a green screen. “That project will require me to go in and work in that studio space,” said Necowitz, who is excited to work with new technology.

Diego Arevalo, a fourth-year graphic design major, said he can set up a workspace anywhere. Because his work is done through downloading software and sketchbooks, he is more flexible with where he works. Arevalo said he often works from home but can be on the move when he needs to collaborate with classmates.

COVID-19 pushed students to get used to working from home and figure out how to continue creating without access to school resources. They found a flow and created a space that worked for them. With everything opening back up they are slowly adjusting back, but will ultimately always have that safe space at home. These creatives made adjustments that show they can work from anywhere, even with unusual circumstances. If they can still create work, it doesn’t matter the size of the studio.