Because inspiration doesn’t only happen between 9 and 5
Inspiration: For many of the students that come to Rowden, their previous life was corporate or office based. Not everyone, for sure, but modern life for many has revolved around the traditional Monday to Friday schedule.
So what a relief to find a space, a creative space, that allows the students to work around hours that fit their new lifestyle, their new way of being.
While the training aspect is concentrated during the standard working day (not even Rowden has on-call 24/7 tutors!), the students have the freedom and access to their benches thoughout the week, including evenings and weekends. So, if they find themselves somewhat nocturnal in nature, no problem. If a burst of inspiration manifests itself at 6am on a Sunday morning, then that’s just fine. This was certainly something I made great use of during my time at Rowden. I would head back into the ‘shop most evenings once everyone had gone home.
What is great is that Rowden recognises that its students, like everyone really, needs to have the facility to capture their creative urges as they happen, rather than try and confine them to an artificial, corporate regime.
And let’s not forget, Rowden isn’t just about training to be a cabinetmaker. It is about preparing the student for life as a cabinetmaker. And as any maker will tell you, that is not a nine to five life!
Until next time,
Lakshmi
