Maria Fumai Dietrich

Inspiring College Student Engagement in the Arts

Posted by Maria Fumai Dietrich, Apr 17, 2014 1 comment


Maria Fumai Dietrich

Maria Fumai Dietrich Maria Fumai Dietrich

As a university advisory to about 50 student performing and visual arts groups, I see firsthand the impact extra-curricular programs and elective coursework in the arts make on student's professional and personal development.  The majority of the hundreds of students served through Platt Student Performing Arts House at The University of Pennsylvania will not pursue careers in the arts sector.  However, it is this population of arts appreciators who will support local theater, participate in book clubs, donate to after school arts programs, and so forth after graduation.  As a sector, we need to creatively engage the extra-curricular art lovers while they are young so as to ensure strong audiences in the future.

Institutions of higher education, arts and culture organizations, and all levels of government share the responsibility of engaging extra-curricular art lovers.  Within the last year alone, Philadelphia has seen strong development in the quantity of organizations taking this responsibility seriously with quality programming. This recent uptick in engaging programming is a sign that organizations recognize the long-lasting value of building relationships between arts and culture communities and college students (regardless of whether or not their academic pursuits are arts-related).

Two incredible examples:

  • The University of Pennsylvania is in the first year of its Art & Culture Initiative, charged with better connecting students, faculty, and staff to on-campus arts organizations and academic programs, as well as the greater Philadelphia arts and culture community. Penn is home to a small number of arts majors/minors, but a large volume of students enrolling in arts electives and/or participating in arts extra-curricular activities.  For example, there are about 30-40 declared Fine Arts majors*, but 700-800 seek to enroll in fine arts classes each semester.  These 700-800 students are made up of undergraduate and graduate students from all schools.  More on Art & Culture Initiative programming later in this post.
  • Campus Philly, a nonprofit organization “that fuels economic growth by encouraging college students to study, explore life, and work in the Greater Philadelphia tri-state region,” launched its Open Arts Philly program this academic year.  This program aims to eliminate barriers for college students accessing Philadelphia arts and culture community by offering a comprehensive event listing, reviews, venue information, details on discounts and Open Arts Membership “providing individual students with exclusive access to free tickets and admission.” The University of Pennsylvania—through the initiative mentioned above—is an Open Arts Philly College Partner.

These visionary ideas and compelling models recognize the importance of engaging as many college students in the arts, not just those pursuing the arts professionally.  For The University of Pennsylvania, it means supporting the whole student, not just the academic life of a student.  For Campus Philly, it means growing strong connections with the hopes of retaining engaged young adults as transplants to the Greater Philadelphia area after graduation.  Both programs move beyond the traditional student discount—often a passive attempt at engaging the college student demographic—and take active responsibility for engaging college students in the arts and culture community.  This is especially important for students whose academics are not arts-related because without these efforts, there is a risk their engagement in the arts may dissolve in the four-plus years of undergraduate studies.  Audience development theory tells us it is much easier to retain audience members than attract new ones.

As a higher education arts administrator, I am personally invested in the success of innovative programs like these (for the equal benefit of my students and the arts sector that I love).  In addition to the traditional responsibilities of a student affairs adviser—which vary from securing rehearsal space for student theater groups to designing career mentorships to securing funding for building campaigns—I am an active player in the University of Pennsylvania’s Art & Culture Initiative.  In collaboration with colleagues, I lead an annual event welcoming about 45 on-campus and Philadelphia arts organizations to a resource fair with the goal of exposing students to the wealth of arts and culture opportunities throughout the city. Another example of my personal commitment is that I co-edit a weekly newsletter that currently reaches more than 2,000 readers and offers a comprehensive list of events and exhibits taking place on campus (check out the March 31st issue here).  It might be easy for some to dismiss these efforts, especially considering the endless amount of programming at large universities like Penn.  However, the commitment is substantial and I hope it will be mirrored in other institutions of higher education—large and small, public and private, urban and rural—as well as cultural and service organizations like Campus Philly.

In the future, I want to engage in meaningful and focused conversation with colleagues across the city, state, and country to develop more innovative programs that engage college students in the arts and help foster lasting relationships.  With programs and relationships in place, engaged college students will graduate to become the next generation of audience members, board members, donors, advocates, and more engaged lovers of the arts and culture.

1 responses for Inspiring College Student Engagement in the Arts

Comments

Kelly Jean Hanlon says
May 05, 2014 at 2:27 pm

I was happy to read this article. People forget that we are creative beings that need an outlet for sharing. Our district made the decision to get rid of Art teachers in the elementary schools. As a primary teacher, my goal is always to incorporate Art into my other curriculum areas. However, I didn't go to school specifically to teach Art theory or method... And there are many individuals who are qualified to teach my students a deeper understanding of Art. Additionally, a time during our week should exist to honor our artful students- art for the sake of art.

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