By Luiz Coelho
As I write these words, I feel excited about the possibility of coming back to SCAD for one more quarter of studies. Unfortunately, another feeling bothers me immensely: the certainty that I will probably have huge lists of supplies and books to buy, and that I will — more than ever — have to find creative ways to have all of them without going completely bankrupt.
I wonder if you all feel the same. Life as an art or design student can be very challenging, especially financially. I can still recall once I spent literally $500 in one day! Hopefully, informal networks of students have found ways of sharing or exchanging material that prevent them from having to buy unnecessary amounts of supplies.
But I also wonder if SCAD could offer possibilities for students to share unused supplies and books. More than mere classifieds, this could be achieved by using a central database through which students could know about other people’s inventories and professors could coordinate their material lists in a way that would allow students to reuse the same supplies for different classes. Such a database could be enhanced by data from art supplies shops in town, including specific sales, clearances and discounts.
For several reasons (including economic, social and environmental ones), sharing is a better option. For SCAD students, it’s sometimes the only one. Maybe it’s time for everybody to find creative, responsible and organized ways for doing that. The outcome might be surprising!
