Randy Horst ’83, professor emeritus of art, is returning this spring to teach ART 205 Figure Drawing; a class that studies the human body through various drawing medias. Horst taught full-time at Goshen College from 1988-90 and 2009-2022 — most recently in the position as professor of art. 

Horst said drawing has always been near and dear to his heart, as he received his master’s degree in drawing. Additionally, much of his personal work is also figurative — such as the pieces currently displayed in the Hershberger Art Gallery. 

 About the importance of the class, he said, “Historically, most art people have made has included figures — so it’s kind of an important and central subject. How individual students choose to enter into that, I think, is interesting and hopefully they get a handle for themselves on their connection and their relationship to it.”

Sara Method, associate professor of art and chair of the department, reached out to Horst to teach the class as an adjunct professor, as to not overload her schedule, or that of Tiffany Wyse-Fisher, assistant professor of art, the only other full-time professor in the art department. 

Method said to resolve scheduling issues, they looked at studio classes they felt comfortable getting an adjunct professor to teach. “I was thinking about figure drawing, and a lot of Randy’s art has wonderful drawings of people. He’s got such a great grasp of that — and he taught that here for years,” she said, “I was thrilled that he agreed to come back.”

One of the students currently enrolled in Figure Drawing next semester is Beka Youngberg, a junior art major. Youngberg and Method both expressed the value in being able to learn from a new perspective to learn from — especially someone who specializes in drawing

Youngberg said, “It’s like having Tiffany for photography — like that’s her medium … [or] having Sara for printmaking. It’s inspiring to have a professor whose passion shows through in their work, and I feel like that’s going to happen with Randy.”

Another change this year is to have Figure Drawing as a Monday night class. Method said the “unusual” timing did impact enrollment but also works better for an adjunct schedule and hopes it will be more fun to draw for an extended period. 

Youngberg reaffirmed Method’s hopes: “I’m so excited that it’s a night class and that it’s such a big chunk of time because I feel like that’s really beneficial for drawing and art classes in general.”

Looking forward to the class, she said, “I really like the idea of having a model in front of you and just drawing movement.”

Models are another aspect of figure drawing. Horst said student models are brought in to hold poses that he directs. “The models are coming in and providing this resource for the rest of the class,” he said. 

“It’s an opportunity to kind of have that more engaging and richer experience rather than just simply, ‘Oh, here’s a picture of something and I can see what the picture looks like.’”

Horst emphasises the ability to go beyond preconceived and often simplistic ideas of what the human body looks like. He said, “The ability to go beyond … what our simplified version of it is in our brains to actually interact with complexity is an important experience for people in a figure drawing class.”