The CatLab is a new creative space that’s a perfect place to sit back, relax, explore a diverse range of opportunities and stimulate your creativity.
The CatLab, short for “CATalyst LAB,” includes whiteboards, fun rugs, couches, tables and a bean bag chair. It has a group media table to connect students’ laptops and work on group projects, along with some art materials and a drawing board. Whether students are studying business, art, music, or biology, the CatLab is open to all.
Sophomore Siena Oliveri said, “There is no room like this. This room has personality. You can write on the board and there are materials for us to use. It has so many options for seating and it’s just a great addition to the building.”
Students are encouraged to think outside the box and expand horizons by looking at things in a different way. Thinking in a new, imaginative aspect is a lifelong skill for students, creators of the space say.
Sophomore music major Ally Anstead said, “The ambiance is very nice. There are times when I get really overwhelmed and it’s nice to have a safe, creative place like this to relax and be productive.”
The CatLab is four years in the making. Professor of music John Pfautz stated “the Center for Creativity is the larger umbrella that is a campus-wide effort to connect creative thinking to every student, every department, including the library.” According to him, here students will be able to engage in unique and powerful ways. For Pfautz, this new outlet for creative expression is a true opportunity for students to find themselves and explore the plethora of creative devices at their disposal.
Collaboration is the key when it comes to the room. For the past four years, the committee has been working on creating this lab.
These committee members are students and professors in all different subject majors. It includes Shawn Beattie (ITS), Alex Cohen (political science), Ethan Conley-Keck (student), Kelli Feigley (Fresh Films), Nathan Frank (physics), Randall Hall (music), Samantha Keehn (music), Claire Kovacs (Augustana Teaching Museum of Art), Margaret Morse (art history), Tony Oliver (music), John Pfautz (music), David Thornblad (business), and Carolyn Yaschur (communication studies).
The CatLab is very flexible and open with opportunities. “This Center for Creativity here at Augustana College promotes multidisciplinary creative exchanges and inspires various forms of creative production that result in thinking, reacting, and working in an imaginative way,” Pfautz said.
The committee will soon be looking for student workers to oversee the area. Applications will be on Handshake under Student Worker for CatLab.
The CatLab is open to any student who wishes to have space where they can stimulate their creativity. It is located on the first floor of Bergendoff Hall of Fine Arts in room 103. This room will be open to students daily until 9 pm.