Bricowlage Student Journal planted the seeds for creativity with its second event of the semester.
The crafting event, which took place on Friday, Sept. 26, in the Center for Research and Writing, focused on making paper plants with supplies provided by the club.
“We really just tried to do anything that gets people in a creative space,” senior Evan Parker, Bricowlage’s president, said. “They can talk, communicate and relax, and express a different side of themselves than academics.”
Parker said the first event the club held, making Shrinky Dinks, was very successful.
“We had 19 people come last time, which is more than we had all of last year,” he said. “Last year, we probably had five people regularly, so that was nice to see.”
Parker said the magazine takes all kinds of submissions, even of crafts made at their events.
“We take submissions of basically anything creative: Writing, photography, painting,” he said. “Anything that we have a meeting for where we’re making something, technically, it is submittable.”
Parker also added that people who attend events are not required to submit to the magazine.
“You don’t have to come to the events to submit, and you don’t need to submit to come to the events,” he said.
Parker gave credit for the idea of the event to social media manager and senior Sawyer Culberson.
“I go through Pinterest all the time, and I saw an activity where someone turned their dad’s old T-shirts into a plant, but it looked a lot like the pattern of scrapbook paper,” Culberson said. “I had been in the Thrifty Owl, and I saw a giant stack of scrapbook paper, and I thought, ‘Hey, this could be a really cool idea.’”
“I thought it was really great because it’s small, doesn’t take that long and it has a lot of creativity,” he added.
Culberson said his favorite part about being a part of Bricowlage is the outreach opportunities.
“Being able to provide a space for people to advertise their creativity is something that I think is very important because I’m constantly looking for those spaces as well, and being able to provide that for other people just gives me a great sense of purpose,” Culberson said. “ I want to be able to help people [with] advertising their creativity and getting it out there in the creative world.”
“Even if you are completely a beginner in writing and you’ve never done it before, we welcome any kind of submissions, and it’s not just limited to writing,” Culberson added.
First-year Elisabeth Frenette said that she came to the event for a fun, permanent craft.
“I really like plants and I’m kind of bad at keeping them alive,” she said.
Frenette also said she enjoyed the environment of the club.
“I feel like the community in here is really welcoming and fun to be around,” she said.
First-year Caitlin Masure agreed, saying the event was a good de-stressor.
“I like crafts,” she said. “It’s also very charming and relaxing after a stressful week.”
Bricowlage’s next event will be a tea night for midterms held on October 10.
Emily Sloane can be contacted at
Frenette and Masure are members of The Equinox’s staff.
