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Report of the 1997-1998 RCC Subcommittee on the Arts
Contents
- Members
- Sub-Committee History and Charge
- Publicity
- The Radio Station
- Technical support
- Theatre
- Creative Writing
- Music
- Dance
- Art
- Film
- Related Issues
- Summary statement
The 1997-1998 Subcommittee on the Arts
- Kathleen Parthé, Faculty co-chair, MLC/Russian Studies
- Marci Seamples, Student co-chair (Class of 1998)
- Gretchen Wesenberg, Architect, Facilities Planning
- Rob Rouzer, Wilson Commons
- Judi Hook, Dance Program
- Elizabeth Cohen, Art and Art History
- Morris Eaves, English
- Stephanie Murg, Class of 2001
- Sradha Pratividi, Class 0f 1998
- Julie Reynolds, Class of 199
- Rick Mook, Class of 1998
- Denver Nash, Class of 1999
- Chris Campbell, Class of 2000
- Pars Kibarer, Class of 1998
- Jeremy Schott, Class of 1998
Sub-Committee History and Charge
The sub-committee met on a weekly basis during the 97-98 academic year. The sub-committee's membership of students, faculty, and staff represented the campus as whole as well as the specific areas of creative writing, theatre, dance, music, and studio arts, and we invited other members of the campus community who were in a position to provide us with additional information to one or more meetings. What we heard during the year was a passionate commitment to many ongoing activities, a concern about several areas of the arts that are missing from campus life, and a genuine hope that University will recognize the high level of interest, commitment and achievement by making much-needed improvements in space and technical support for the arts.
Dean Green asked us to review the artistic and cultural activities that contribute to life on our residential campus through performances, exhibits, and occasions for conversation. Along with this charge, we looked at the undergraduate councils that now exist in most departments and the major-related activities that they organize. The topics we covered include: (1) publicity and audience development, (2) rehearsal and performance locations, (3) the strength of the activities that currently exist and the importance of those not represented on campus, and, (4) the situation at the UR in comparison with other schools. Along with creative writing, dance, film, theatre, music, and the studio arts, we also talked to people from the radio station, to people who work in AMES about technical support, and did a survey of the departmental undergraduate councils. When speaking about these subjects there is some overlap between the curricular and the co-curricular; if the space for dance or play-producing classes is not adequate, then the same is likely to be true for co-curricular dance and theatre. The focus of this report, however, is on non-credit bearing activities.
Publicity
There is no central place where announcements appear in an organized and easily readible fashion, and no central coordinator for all the places on campus where an announcement might appear. There are chaotic displays of announcements on bulletin boards in heavily traveled areas, departmental bulletin boards, glass cases and television screens in WC and other locations, and announcements in CT and CURRENTS. The student co-chair suggested that the SA office produce a concise handbook - like the one that business managers of SA-funded groups receive - explaining how to produce and distribute effective announcements in a variety of formats, including on web sites. In the absence of a central location for cultural events, it is even more important that it be easy to find out what is going on and where. This builds audiences, and gives the (correct) impression to members of the UR community and to visitors, including prospective students and returning alumni, that there is an active co-curricular life on this campus.
• There have been genuine improvements in this area since we discussed the question in October 1997. THE BUZZ, which emerged from the RCC's first year, has been a great success and is now the single best way of informing students about events on campus. In addition, CURRENTS has moved its events listings to the back page of each issue and made them more easily readable, and there are e-mailed announcement of major events through the "University of RochesterNews(Admin.)."
The Radio Station
There are two frequencies: FM 88.5 for the greater Rochester area,(a 90-mile radius) and AM 640 for the campus(mainly used for 9-week training courses). General Manager Alex Levy explained the complex operation of the station, which includes broadcasts of music and sports events at the UR, and commentary by UR faculty on a number of issues of interest to the student body. WRUR receives an annual operational budget from the SA. The station has been very resourceful and self-reliant in setting up training programs, keeping old equipment in service, and working in an unrenovated too-small space. To maintain the quality of their present operation and to work more actively and efficiently with departments and groups on campus in providing better programming, there must be a one-time investment - of $10,000-$15,000 - to allow a move from analog to digital recording equipment, and some renovation of their space, part of which is located in the old meat locker of a dining hall. Alex Levy said that at many campuses, the radio station is centrally located in a student center and/or performing arts building.
• WRUR celebrated its 50th anniversary in February 1998. Since it enjoys the support of the many alumni who have worked for the station over the years, it seems logical to use this support as the basis of a modest fund-raising campaign for the station's legitimate equipment needs.
Technical support
AMES is a crucial partner in both the curricular and co-curricular life of the College. There has been a marked increase in the numbers of events and courses requiring support, and in the complexity of the equipment used, but this comes out of an office with fewer people employed to provide these services than in the past. Faculty and students in the Dance Program saw a major gap in what they needed (lighting, music, etc.) for in-house performances and visiting artists and what was readily available from AMES. Space used for co-curricular activities varies widely in its accessibility for AMES equipment and the extent to which the space has been upgraded to use the latest technology. Work for AMES requires a training period, and there are problems with retention of trained students because of the long hours and the relatively low pay scale. For example, in 1997-98, students with three years training received $6.75/hour. It is significant that the person who spoke to us eloquently and knowledgeably about this situation, and whose energies helped to hold the operation together, has since left AMES.
• A centralized building for the arts would make technical support a much more efficient and effective operation.
Theatre
The Theatre Program is run through the English Department. Over the years there has been a professionalization of the theatre program's staff without a professionalization of the space it uses. For lack of a better place, sets must be built on the stage in Todd which renders that theatre unavailable for other uses for long periods of time, and there is nowhere to store sets once constructed, no workshop, no costume storage, and the theatre is not handicapped-accessible. The theatre program has control over the Todd theatre, but it isn't even adequate for them, and it virtually precludes other use of the space by truly amateur, student-generated, co-curricular projects which existed on campus in the past.
• An arts center would give the curricular theatre program the space it requires, while making co-curricular theatre once again possible.
Creative Writing
This program, also run by the English Department, organizes two to five annual presentations in the well-known Plutzick Series, as well as readings and appearances by writers from within the UR community and from the outside. There are several spaces in the library that are generally available for the readings(the combined Plutzick Library and Ramsey Study should be a nice venue for readings; the English Department lounge was described as "gloomy"), and the Common Ground Café has been used for readings and jazz on weekends. LOGOS, the undergraduate art and literary publication is not affiliated with the English Department and receives its funding from the SA; it occasionally sponsors contests and coffeehouse readings. The Writers at Large creative writing club for undergraduates is currently inactive.
Music
There are many music groups on campus, from small vocal ensembles to the 100-member orchestra and the equally large choir. These activities are primarily pursued as a co-curricular activity which sometimes grants credit (one per term), rather than a credit-bearing activity which students pursue to finish a concentration. Because of the many groups, there is a serious lack of sufficient rehearsal and performance space with adequate acoustics, and where there is space for regularly scheduled lunch-time piano concerts, as there was in the Welles-Brown Room, the funding for these concerts has dried up. The Music Department does its best to coordinate and maximalize the available space but they can only manipulate the possibilities so far, assuring fairness, but not adequacy. In the areas where music and theatre overlap, for instance musical theatre, there are gaps in what is available for interested students to pursue. As an institution, we advertise that music is an important part of what the University values and does well, and it is therefore no surprise that along with students who enroll in the Eastman School itself, there are many more in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences who come to Rochester with a serious interest in music which they assume they will be able to pursue as a performer or member of the audience during their four years here. The facilities available for them to do this either in a serious or in a more ad hoc way are limited and disappointing at best.
• An arts center would increase the number of accoustically engineered rooms available for the numerous vocal and instrumental groups on campus to rehearse and perform. It would also provide centralized space for informal musical performances, e.g. 30-minute noon-time concerts. This would be wonderful for school spirit as a whole and a great advertisement for prospective students. More attractive, centralized space would also help with audience development.
Dance
This is a very active and ambitious program which, as it has grown, has run into problems finding adequate rehearsal and performance space, and technical support for its co-curricular activities which are often multi-media events(music, film, special lighting), and involve not only UR faculty and students but visiting artists. The space currently available is heavily booked for classes and this cuts into what is available for non-class activities and for performances.
• The co-curricular dance activities require not only technical support, but also appropriate flooring. An arts center with some dedicated space and other flexible space would allow this part of the co-curriculum to achieve its potential.
Art
There are a number of art-related situations to consider: (1) the absence of a center for serious crafts activities, a disappointment to incoming freshmen each year since this kind of facility is commonly found in arts centers on university campuses; the difficulty non-majors have getting into classes in the visual arts makes the co-curricular component an even more important option; (2) the reality of having only one relatively small gallery - the Hartnett - in a centrally located area(WC) and the need to use that space for outside artists, considered a fundamentally important learning experience by the AAH department(although available funding is not adequate for the insurance, transportation and other costs involved in mounting several exhibits each year), which (3) results in a lack of sufficient and attractive space for the works produced on this campus by students and faculty since the Department's own gallery is in the inconveniently-located Sage, and the Art Library space in Rush Rhees is small and only conducive to paintings; (4) the noticeable lack of publicly displayed art on the UR campus as a whole, gives, once again, the incorrect impression that the people who study and work here have little interest in art. The tunnels, hallways, and offices that students frequent are all spaces that could be part of coordinated effort to promote the visual arts at the University of Rochester. One additional suggestion: to explore the possibility of setting up a program like the one at Oberlin to loan framed posters and other art to students to hang up in their dorm rooms.
Film
Along with the Film Studies curriculum, film is used in many non FS courses in the College, as well as for co-curricular events by Undergraduate Councils and other groups and programs(e.g. the Skalny series). Some of these screenings are free; others charge a modest price to cover costs. The SA-run film group seems to have experienced some difficulties during the past few years, due in part to competition from local multiplex theatres, the nearest of which is a discount second-run operation. All groups who wish to show films must face the fact that there are several large and not particularly attractive or comfortable spaces, and just a few rooms of moderate size, and the technical support problems mentioned above.
Related Issues:
TRANSPORTATION: Students with cars obviously have access to a greater variety of events in the Rochester area, but they also have an easier time getting to events held at the Eastman and the Memorial Art Gallery, which are, after all, part of the same University of Rochester. Student members of the sub-committee said that when they have used the Blue Bus to go to evening concerts at Eastman they frequently have to wait up to 45 minutes for a UR bus to take them back to campus. This makes going to an Eastman concert a much less attractive option. Also related to transportation: the Department of Art and Art History sees the need for an expanded pool of vehicles for travel to art-related venues and events; AAH faculty reported that Student Activities vans cost them as much or more as a commercial rental.
• At the very least, we need to be able to guarantee students transportation to events in UR buildings off the River campus. Beyond that, if we wish to overcome the perception that we are in an isolated location with limited cultural opportunities, which leads students to either transfer or not enroll in the first place, we must make it a less isolated place for students once they arrive. Of course, if there were an arts center on campus with attractive, usable spaces, the desire to leave would be less acute.
Summary statement
The level of talent, interest, and committment by the College's students and faculty to cultural, artistic and other co-curricular activities is consistently high and compares very favorably to the other schools with which we compare ourselves. But the space available for rehearsal, production, and performance of these activities is far from optimal, in many cases remarkably inadequate, and at best, scattered all over the River Campus. A prospective student or incoming freshman who asked to be shown our arts center - so prominent a feature of college campuses all over the country - would pose a question to which there is at present no answer, and yet these activities are central to many of our students, even those who major in another area of the curriculum. Now that the University is upgrading sports facilities, it is time to consider another crucial component of a residential college - the space and technical support devoted to culture, the arts, and co-curricular activities as a whole, both those that are highly organized and professionalized, and those that are more spontaneous and amateur but no less valuable, and enjoyable for our students.
Copyright by University of Rochester
Faculty Senate site created June 29, 1998, by William Simon wsimon@biophysics.rochester.edu
Maintained by Douglas C. Ravenel drav@harpo.math.rochester.edu.
This page last revised September 08, 1999
