Something’s Contagious in Student Housing.

For more than 20 years, Nathan Sherman has served as the housing coordinator at MassArt, managing residence hall assignments for new and returning students. He also oversees the annual move-in and move-out days, answering questions and providing support as students make the transition to life on campus. Nathan plays an essential role in helping our students explore their interests and find community through MassArt’s residential programming.

How would you describe the residential experience for a MassArt student?

There’s a lot of exploration here—in the student’s art, in their relationships, in what they want to do. In the residence halls, we really try to foster that idea of exploring, not just as artists, but as human beings. We try to support that growth, that willingness to take chances and make mistakes, and benefit from them. And I think that really complements the academic programming at MassArt. It’s a very creative atmosphere—the expressiveness of our students, the willingness to put themselves out there and to put themselves into their work—it’s contagious!

“Contagious” creativity—can you say more about that?

It can rub off on you even if you’re not expecting it to. It changes you and you find yourself more open to your own creativity. I’ve really developed as a person while being here—it’s given me an opportunity to dabble in a lot of different ways of expressing myself. I did some black-and-white photography, and then some digital art. Eventually, I started making hats.

I was going to ask about the awesome hat you’re wearing. 

Several years ago, I took a millinery class here at MassArt. (Millinery is hat-making, with an emphasis on classic styles like fedoras and bowler hats.) It was fascinating. I’ve been wearing hats for a long time, and this class helped open my eyes to the possibilities and to create some of my own. They were really fun to make and fun to show off. Some of them have spikes!

The students in the class were all fashion majors, so they helped me with sewing and helped me figure out the different techniques I needed. Our students are so talented, so driven, so passionate—I’ve seen some work that’s just blown my mind over the years. There’s just something really unique and fun about being in a MassArt classroom.

What advice would you give to students to help them make the most of their MassArt experience?

Don’t be afraid to fail. People can be very frightened of failure and criticism—but you can learn so much by failing, sometimes a lot more than you can by succeeding. And really, it’s going to happen. We’re not going to be able to do everything perfectly all the time. We all have challenges, we all have hurdles to overcome. So just embrace them and learn from them. That’s how I think about it.