This week the Dickinson College Idea Fund is pleased to announce funding for a new partner project. Jam Space, which is maintained by Lauren Bobyock ’17 and Max Lee ’19, is a venue in which students will be able to practice music, regardless of their expertise or major. Both students are devoted musicians who want to make Dickinson a campus where anyone can make music freely. Bobyock gained interest in the idea after several of her friends found it difficult to play their instruments on campus. She noticed non-music majors were not able to use spaces meant for practice, and there was “a serious void on campus.” She began working with other students on the project in her sophomore year, and she took over as head of the project last semester. The space has been pretty exclusive until now, but with the new resources made available with Idea Fund sponsorship, she hopes to serve all students who want to make music at Dickinson.
Max Lee is a first year who was looking for a place to drum and found Jam Space at the activities fair during the first week on campus. He finally got into the project after being put in touch with Bobyock, and the two have been working to make the space available to all students who want to use it. He hopes it will become a center of musical creativity and community for musicians on campus.
The project’s goals are to provide a space for all students to make music on their own, in groups, and eventually in performances for the rest of the student body. Bobyock hopes to have students in the space, located behind Goodyear, each day. The space currently has a few amplifiers, microphones, and a drum kit, but the funding from Idea Fund will be used to increase resources available for student use. Currently, there are about forty students using the space at various times, but both Lee and Bobyock hope that number will begin to rise. They plan to spend the grant money from the Idea Fund on a new keyboard and a bass amplifier, both currently needed in the Jam Space. Many students are unable to bring their instruments with them to college, and the project will continue to address this problem moving forward. Music serves as a form of therapy much-needed by college students, and being able to access the resources they need to make music will improve the experiences of musicians at Dickinson.
We look forward to hearing what steps these two take to make Jam Space available to more students! Interested in using the space or getting involved in the project? Contact Lauren Bobyock or Max Lee!
Margot McCrillis
Contributing Writer