From the paintings at Brown 'n Brew to the sculptures in the library, from the Beelzebub's packed concerts to the Traveling Treasure Trunk's on-campus shows, Tufts' dynamic arts community sprawls across campus and reaches nearly every Jumbo in some way.
Over the next two years, though, the newly formed Social Justice Arts Initiative (SJAI) wants to take this artistic spirit even further. The program is looking to unite the members of Tufts' artistic community with a collective pursuit of "social justice" through their varied crafts.
SJAI was born last spring, when the Office of the Dean of Students received a grant to hold a Social Justice Leadership Conference in the fall of 2009.
"They wanted a way to prepare the campus for that conference," said junior Alexander Paraschos, one of the initiative's co-leaders.
The office contacted Paraschos and junior Jennifer Bailey, who began working on the project with Women's Center Violence Prevention Program Coordinator Elaine Theodore and LGBT Center Director Dona Yarbrough.
Both Bailey and Paraschos had showed previous interest in issues of social justice, but neither knew immediately what would be the best way to increase an already-present awareness of social justice issues on campus.
Both had a multitude of experience with the arts. Paraschos is involved in Gospel music groups both on and off campus, while Bailey sees art as a "safe space" and has been pursuing it since childhood. Inspired by their interests, they decided to use the power that they recognized in art to reach out to and connect with people - to "make it something active," Paraschos said. The result was the formation of SJAI.
The group, which has quadrupled in size since last spring, is looking to hold five or six events, performances or exhibitions every semester that raise awareness of social justice issues. These events will culminate in a week-long SJAI festival event in the spring of 2009 that will end in a large concert, bringing together artists and performers from Tufts and the local community.
SJAI leaders said they have two main objectives: to raise awareness of social issues and to use activism to facilitate constructive connections with the communities that surround Tufts. They will work with a variety of art forms and currently have subcommittees for music, theater, dance, visual art, film and photography.
Bailey said that she sees a lot of potential for art to raise social issues in a manner that facilitates discussion from a variety of different perspectives.
"You can make a statement with art, and people can look at it in a variety of different ways. One poignant art piece can mean so much more than a long academic lecture, because an image can stay with you a lot longer."
Bailey is also excaited about the potential that SJAI has to unite preexisting socially conscious artistic groups at Tufts.
"What's great about this initiative is that, before, there was no central group through which different groups could connect and share ideas," she said. "This will allow for more collaboration."
For each event or performance SJAI stages, they will make an effort to collaborate with members of local communities.
"This is a very big piece of what we do," Paraschos said. "While our goal is to raise awareness, it's difficult to quantify that and know that we're making a difference. The community piece of [this project] makes an act of change. We want to impact people directly."
SJAI held its first event on Sept. 6: an open mike session at Brown 'n Brew. Students from Tufts and East Boston came together to play music, express themselves and interact.
"A number of people showed up," said Paraschos, who considers the event a success.
Senior Doug Foote, who is coordinating SJAI's theater work, said the shows to be performed by 3P's this semester, "Cabaret" and "Marisol," both raise important social issues. But he said he also hopes those involved in Tufts theater will take socially active theater beyond what already exists.
"There are [many] possibilities for us," he said, imagining events that he hopes will be able to happen as SJAI continues to grow. "It could range from a fundraising show to in-your-face guerilla-type theater."
Barbara Grossman, the chair of the Drama and Dance Department, is excited for SJAI 's potential.
"While a poem or play or song can't change the world overnight, artists have the power to engage us and to focus our attention on pressing problems, injustices and inequities," she said. "If they help us to stop and think, we're more likely to speak out and take action."
