Students have been crafting and creating at the Craft Center for decades. In the spring of 1966, students worked to establish a craft center so they could make productive and creative use of their leisure time. Located in a small and humble setting, the first Craft Center was in the coat and hat check room off the Memorial Union Ballroom. Jewelry, lapidary, wood carving and weaving were popular crafts at this time. The Craft Centers popularity prompted an expansion and move to a new location in the MU East/Snell Hall in 1977; increasing it square footage to 4,600 square feet of space. Many new programs were offered; most popular was the addition of ceramics and photography. Yet another expansion occurred in 1996, occupying what had been The Gallery, a former eatery, into what we referred to as our South Classroom, bringing its overall size to over 11,000 sq. feet and allowing for additional programs and classes to be offered.
In March of 2015, the Craft Center relocated into a brand new facility in the basement level of the Student Experience Center (SEC) occupying approx. 10,000 square feet of artist studio space. The planning and building of the SEC was student initiated, funded and continues to be funded through student fees. The Craft Center is grateful to be amongst the fee funded departments that are housed within the SEC. We offer programs and classes in: ceramics, textiles (weaving, sewing and spinning), silk screening and printmaking, glass torch work, fused glass and stained glass, jewelry and metal work, fine woodworking, paper arts and more. Presently we are open 6 days a week, typically offering over 2,500 hours of non-credit classes and workshops per year plus 50 hours of open studio time per week to members to create> de-stress> restore. The Craft Center currently serves OSU students.