You may have noticed a surprising wall of color beneath the fixture of Goddard Chapel while climbing uphill this week. A rainbow of photos decorates the gray wall in front of the chapel, advertising the new-and-improved image of the Tufts University Arts Commission and injecting color into Tufts' under-appreciated artistic community.
Until recently, the Arts Commission and the Arts Haus were one and the same. This year, however, Arts Haus co-presidents Erika Martin and Craig Wenner have opened the organization to all Tufts students. Created to promote the arts on campus, the Arts Haus has done little to advance that effort in the past. Martin described the former Arts Commission as "inactive." Now, with the inclusion of other students, the group is aiming to sponsor on-campus art endeavors, like the wall mural and other events.
According to Martin, the Arts Commission is a "student organization dedicated to bringing the arts to Tufts, as well as the surrounding community. The idea is to promote student artists and outside artists, and to raise awareness of the arts and lack thereof on campus." She added that it is a group "for all artists, art appreciators, and anyone else who cares about art in one way or another."
"When you think Tufts, you don't think of art," said Sarah Siegel, a member of the Arts Commission. "On paper it looks like we have a lot of stuff going on about the arts, but there is no interaction."
Martin agreed, adding that "Harvard has an entire art weekend. They have an office of the arts. Tufts has nothing." The Arts Commission hopes to change this stale situation, bringing a new awareness to the University.
Some students say that the arts are neglected at Tufts, and point out that there has been no organization promoting communication among artistic groups on campus like Spirit of Color and Torn Ticket II. And while the performing arts are well represented in the form of dance and theatre groups, the visual arts are virtually absent from the Tufts community. Events at the University's own gallery are under-publicized, and there is no real forum for the display of student artwork. Many students at Tufts take part in the dual-degree program with the Museum School, but their work goes virtually unnoticed on the Tufts campus.
The group currently has a membership of about 30 students. All residents of the Arts Haus are members by default. The group has held a few meetings and this week has begun its activities on campus with the rainbow wall mural. A small project, the mural catches the eye with its curiosity-inspiring brightness, then lures a person in to focus not only on the project as a whole, but on the images in the individual photographs. In this way it reiterates the goal of the commission: to acquire the attention and the focus of the student body, not on photographs but on the arts as a whole.
Aside from the mural, the Arts Commission has brainstormed many ideas for upcoming on-campus events. The group wants to promote student artists, art alumni, and the performing arts on campus. It hopes to hold a student art sale towards the end of every semester as a way for student artists to not only show their work, but also make a profit.
Plans are already beginning for a spring art festival, which would be held on the academic quad around May Day. At the all-day festival, visual art would be displayed around the quad. Performance groups would also participate, performing on at least one stage - possibly two, one at each end of the quad. There would also be workshop booths where people could sit and experiment with different media.
Also on the group's list of intended projects are lectures by prominent artists, choreographers, filmmakers, and art appreciators, adding an artistic voice to the plethora of politically and economically oriented lectures already offered on campus. The Arts Commission is also interested in creating a program with area schools that would enable Tufts students to interact artistically with children in the community.
The Arts Commission is a newly revitalized on-campus group with big goals and a difficult task ahead, but its artistic vision may bring a much-needed creative energy to Tufts and foster communication among the already successful and popular arts groups on campus. If the Arts Commission is successful, more students will likely attend campus arts events and the arts community at Tufts might be infused with a newfound creative spirit.
