Hi! I’m Becca Carden, a freshman, and this is my first post for Innermost Parts.
This weekend was my first Springfest experience at Brandeis. It was really fun and beautiful, and very interactive.
But, as I am not an artist, I don’t get the opportunity to see student art very often during the school year. I do go to coffee houses, and I was impressed by the very cool cactus sculptures in the SCC earlier this semester. But can’t we have more? It would be great to have different art projects on display all over campus all year round.
Part of the reason Springfest/Festival of the Arts was so empowering for me was the general feeling of creativity that surrounded it, and I think Brandeis has the potential to promote this inspirational environment all the time. This weekend was great, but can we set up a stage on Chapel’s Field and have student music groups perform on some weekend when it’s not too cold? Or, could we put more visual art on display? Couldn’t we have a cappella in the SCC in the afternoons sometimes, or a surprise skit in the Usdan in the middle of the lunchtime rush?
Springfest is an awesome tradition, and I really enjoyed it. But maybe we can incorporate the art that it celebrates into the everyday Brandeis experience.
A friend of mine had a great idea to incorporate student creativity into general campus routine. He suggested that the semesterly activities fair be transformed into a sort of all-day music festival atmosphere. The emphasis would be on performances rather than just signing up for list-servs, and there could be several stages for singing and instrumental groups, theater and improv performances, etc. It would get new students much more excited about clubs and become a celebration of the entire community, something we don’t really have right now.
He was infectiously enthusiastic about the idea and had plans to pursue it next year. I don’t want to name him without his permission, but know that this is his idea, and I think it’s a good one.
I agree! Good post.