Art School Fosters Creativity Among Diverse Community

By ALLAN RIKSHPUN and SOPHIA TORRES LUGO Sun Contributors

The Community School of Music and Arts lies in the heart of Ithaca in one of the oldest, most active performance spaces in Tompkins County, second only to the State Theater. Founded in 1960, CSMA’s mission is to diversify the art scene in Ithaca by providing an inclusive space for community members spanning all ages and backgrounds, and the school aims to continue that goal to this day.

Executive Director of the CSMA Robin Tropper ’85 moved around after graduating from Cornell, but eventually came back to Ithaca and has remained here ever since. Even though she feels like Ithaca has not changed drastically since she was a student, she is grateful to have a new perspective on the area as a person in an administrative position.

“As a student, I didn’t get off of campus that much. I would come downtown every now and then, but mostly hung out on campus and in Collegetown,” Tropper said. “It’s wonderful to experience Ithaca as a non-student. There’s so much to do — for example, being able to enjoy the very vibrant art scene that our community has.”

Tropper described CMSA’s location at 330 E State Street as a community hub, saying that the school caters towards Ithaca and the greater Tompkins County community.

According to Tropper, the school takes pride in their successful implementation of its vision of diversity and inclusion, ensuring that both their students and staff members have a wide range of backgrounds. Tropper thinks diverse perspectives and audiences help them achieve their goals of creating a sense of belonging for all.

“We are implementing efforts to recruit and hire diverse staff, which I’m proud that we’ve been very successful at doing. We’ve been filling positions with new people, and it’s been very important to make every effort to have diverse communities represented in our staff,” Tropper said. “As we hire new faculty, our hope is that the instructors bring increasingly diverse perspectives to our spaces here.”

CSMA’s audiences also come with more diverse demographics. Ranging from preschoolers to senior citizens, the school was tasked with adapting in order to be able to accommodate all members.

“[CMSA is] a very different space we have [from other arts communities],” Tropper said. “This is much more community-oriented and geared for people to experience the arts, whether they’re a beginner artist or somebody who’s just had a lot of experience and wants to continue learning.” nections at University of California, Berkeley, where students worked with Google and Amazon to match the original funds raised at Cornell.

Tropper explained that the school’s commitment to adapting to a community of different skill levels can be seen through their large stretch of programs. Their programs are divided into three categories: dance and theatre, music and visual arts. Within these, CSMA offers specialized private lessons, group session classes and summer camps.

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Allan Rikshpun can be reached at ar748@cornell.edu. Sophia Torres Lugo can be reached at set77@cornell.edu.

“So $8,000 became $16,000,” said Ercan. “[Berkeley students] sent it back to us, and we sent it to Turkey.”

While the event was successful in its fundraising efforts, some took note of the larger issue of the University’s apparent lack of participation.

“The crowd was mostly people from the affected region,” Ozer-Griffin said. “There weren’t many Cornell students there [who weren’t from the region affected by the earthquake],”

The TSA also hosted a vigil walk on Monday, Feb. 20. The vigil began on Ho Plaza and participants walked to the Arts Quad while holding carnations to honor the victims of the tragedy. On the Arts Quad, Prof. Esra Akcan, architecture, and others discussed the disaster.

“During the same time, we also heard there was another big earthquake in the area,” Ozer-Griffin said. “It was very devastating because people started shaking and wondering about their families in the area.”

Ultimately, Ozer-Griffin emphasized the importance of simply reaching out to those who may have been affected by the earthquake.

“You don’t have to do anything but just ask,” OzerGriffin said. “I know Cornell students may be busy or may not be aware of it, but if you have [been made aware], just ask people from the affected region how they are.”

cmaccorkle@cornellsun.com.