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“Conversation” on
building audiences
for the arts will draw
educators, arts leaders
from throughout northeast
Indiana to MC
A conversation on building audiences for the
arts is expected to draw at least 70 people to Manchester College’s new
Wine Recital Hall on Friday, Dec. 3. The gathering – hosted by the
presidents of eight colleges and universities in northeast Indiana –
will include educators, arts officials and others interested in the arts
in the region.
“We are concerned about building robust
audiences and other support for cultural events,” notes Parker G.
Marden, president on leave at Manchester College. The conversation will
be just that: not lectures or a seminar, Marden noted. Participants will
break into smaller groups to discuss topics they bring to the table as
well as a few suggested topics. Lunch and a closing session also are
planned. Geoff Gephart, president of Arts United, will assist in the
conversation, set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 3.
The group will attempt to define the issues,
try to understand the challenges and identify resources and next steps.
“We invite the participation of anyone interested in the strengthening
of our cultural and artistic organizations by preparing fuller audiences
from those students whom we prepare for society in other useful ways,”
notes Marden.
Among
topics expected to be discussed:
·
What are the arts interests of today’s college students?
What are their interests in what others define, support, preserve, and
celebrate as the arts? Where, and what, are the audiences of tomorrow?
·
What and where are the new audiences for the arts? In a
world that increasingly finds meaning in diversity, how do we welcome
new audiences to what is traditional and how do we welcome traditional
audiences to what is new?
·
How can we connect colleges and universities, with their
student and other populations, that represent impressive “demographics”
for the arts community? How can we do so in the Fort Wayne area?
·
How do we pay for whatever might be done? How do we build
whatever case needs to be built for what needs to be done?
Colleges hosting the conversation include:
Huntington College (G. Blair Dowden, president), Indiana Institute of
Technology (Arthur E. Snyder, President), Indiana University Purdue
University, Fort Wayne (Michael A. Wartell, Chancellor), Ivy Tech State
College Northeast (Jon L. Rupright, vice president/chancellor), Taylor
University Fort Wayne (David J. Gyertson, president), Tri-State
University (Earl D. Brooks II, president), University of St. Francis
(Sr. M. Elise Kriss, president), and Manchester College (President Jo
Young Switzer and Parker G. Marden, president on leave).
Manchester, an independent liberal arts
college with 1,075 students from 23 states and 30 countries, offers
remarkable opportunities and adventures in the arts – from choral
performances in St. Peter’s Basilica in Italy and in Carnegie Hall to
studying ancient sculptural techniques in Central America. Theatre
students travel in troupes to elementary schools in other states and a
U.S. Professor of the Year teaches painting and photography. Students
experience and perform in concerts of classical and popular music in a
1,300-seat auditorium and recitals in the new Wine Recital Hall. Weekly
convocations, artists in residence, college-sponsored community programs
and lecturers help all students reach, explore and enjoy the arts. For
more information about Manchester College, visit
www.manchester.edu
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