For those who don’t know, the Artist Guild is the small house between KDS and The Dub.  It’s the one that usually has Natty Daddys in the bushes and the Dana cups filled with mysterious liquids on the stoop. How do they get there? Who knows! Have no fear, though – the inside looks just as odd. We still have our Halloween decorations up and take pride in our illustrations of The Rock, Guy Fieri, Brendan Frasier, William H. Macy, Hannibal Buress, George W. Bush, Danny DeVito, and Papa John above our piano among others. We are a lot of fun.

The Artist Guild formed in the mid-90s, originally intended exclusively as housing for visual artists. However, as years have passed, not only visual artists but dancers, writers, film makers, potters, and simply “creative personalities” have been welcomed to live under the roof of the Guild. The walls of the common room are covered with paintings and charcoal renderings from current house members and Guildies of years past.

Every Monday night at 8 p.m., you can find house members gathered in the common room for Artist Hour, a house tradition which encourages creative expression in a supportive and encouraging environment. Students can bring current projects to work on, or start a new one with Guild-supplied gear. Watercolor and acrylic paints, canvases, sketchbooks, embroidery kits, and many more mediums are available for use, free of charge. If art isn’t your cup of tea, guitar-pickers, piano-players, flute-tooters, drum-smackers, and tuba-blowers alike are encouraged to bring an instrument for a jam sesh.

Molly McMasters ’20, one of the newest members of the house, warmly reflects that “The Guild is a pretty neat.”

“Haha,” says Christian Watson ’20, “Nice.”

Jokes aside, John St. Denney ’18, has been a participant in Artist Hour for all four years of his collegiate career. “I like to draw. I just wanted to do something.” At first he wasn’t sure if he would return, but something kept drawing him back. It was probably the house’s sterling personality. It wouldn’t be the Artist Guild if someone wasn’t yelling – in a loving and supportive way to stimulate creativity, of course.

“There have been some good times, some bad times, and some weird times,” John reminiscences, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Stop by the Guild Monday nights at 8 p.m., and keep an eye out for our face-painting booths at campus functions!