Step into the Roble Arts Gym (RAG) and you’ll see paint spattered across tables, art supplies sprawling across countertops, instruments gleaming in their stands, and mirrors reflecting light onto the studio floor. You’ll also find students drawing, painting, crafting, playing music, recording a song, dancing, rehearsing, or organizing an art show – maybe even all at once.

For 10 years, the Roble Arts Gym has provided Stanford students with a drop-in makerspace for creative exploration, informal performances and rehearsals, project materials, guidance, and community. It’s free and available for any student to use, regardless of their major.

“It’s a low-barrier entry point where anyone who wants to can come in, try it out, get what they need, and just start without worrying about ordering supplies,” said Claudia Dorn, associate director of student and campus engagement. “There’s no pressure here, there’s no grading, no judgment. You can just go in and be creative, be yourself, and find your passion.”

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Exercising creativity

RAG, housed under the Office of the Vice President for the Arts (VPA), was first envisioned by students during a long-range planning phase nearly 20 years ago. An “arts gym” was a new concept at the time as students sought creative space unassociated with classwork.

“The idea really came from students who wanted a place like the gym where they can go in and exercise creatively,” Dorn said. “Lots of students said they have access to studios and supplies when they are taking a class, but after the quarter, that access is lost and they want to continue.”

In 2014, the Stanford Board of Trustees approved plans to renovate Roble Gym, which was built in 1931 as a women’s gym and health center. During the renovation, campus arts leadership worked with the School of Humanities and Sciences and the Department of Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) to develop the space. Architects working on the renovation incorporated the building’s history by using the old basketball court flooring for two of RAG’s walls.

By October 2016, the building had transformed into studios, classrooms, and performance space for TAPS and dedicated space for the Roble Arts Gym. It has been filled with music, dance, and art-making ever since.

“When we started, we didn’t really know what the space was going to turn into,” Dorn said. “We have been flexible, and over time, we looked at what else was needed and added equipment. We are continually finding ways to address students’ needs as we hear them.”

A creative spark

Recording artist and music producer Tyler “Eaglebabel” Brooks, ’17, first visited RAG as an undergraduate and now works there as a student engagement associate helping students take advantage of Stanford’s interdisciplinary creative opportunities.

“When students walk through the door at Roble Arts Gym, they’re coming into an ecosystem of the arts on campus,” Brooks said. “This is a portal and truly where the magic just organically forms. On a campus like this, where you have so many brilliant minds, all you need is some creative spark to put it together.”

RAG offers the Messy Arts Space for drop-in painting, crafting, and socializing. Equipment like easels, art supplies, and sewing machines are available to use free of charge. “Stanford students find all kinds of uses for stuff, so we let the sky be the limit, stock up on whatever we can, and then they’ll complete the picture – pun intended,” Brooks said.

The Music Room is fitted with an electric keyboard, electric drum kit, and guitar, and it also offers one of two recording booths on campus that is open to all students.

The Studio has a full sound system, projector, screen, theatrical lights, green screen system, rolling walls, and movable mirrors. It’s used by dance and theater groups as well as on a drop-in basis for individual use.

Students can also use the space to exhibit their works or screen films. “It has tons of flexibility and modularity,” said Brooks, who showcased his own senior capstone project there. “We can really easily adjust it to what we need at that very moment.”

RAG hosts several cornerstone events each year, including a winter performing arts showcase and a spring pop-up exhibition during Admit Week.

This fall, the Equipment Lending Library – where students can check out equipment like speakers, microphones, and audio and video recording devices – moved from its former home in the basement of Old Union to RAG.

At its core, RAG offers a place to explore, create, connect with others, and unwind.

“It’s a space where you can take a deep breath, do something else, then go back to your busy schedule,” Dorn said. “We tell every student, if you haven’t painted before, try it now because once you graduate, you might not have time, and you might find you have a passion you didn’t know you had that will help balance your life.”

Exploration and creation

Inside RAG, water can be heard falling in the nearby courtyard fountain, and a chain pulley system hangs down to operate the historic building’s windows. Sixteen student staffers help greet and assist students at RAG.

Senior Leila Yokoyama is a history major and music minor who has worked with RAG for more than a year. Yokoyama advises other students as an arts liaison, and she is president of the Stanford Tango Club.

“The Roble Arts Gym is a central part of the student arts on campus,” Yokoyama said. “It’s different from other makerspaces on campus because it’s devoted to not just making but to the performing arts as well.”

Yokoyama has used RAG for personal projects, Tango Club lessons, and voiceover recordings for a documentary she’s creating for her capstone project. The space offers artistic exploration outside the pressure to pursue a defined goal or produce a finished work, she said.

“You don’t have to come there with an agenda or any experience,” Yokoyama said. “People have an expectation that they have to be good at something or have to have something to do, but that’s not the case with RAG. You can just go and explore and talk to the staff there, and they can help you and give you an introduction.”