“I believe so much in this project – in its ability to give us a competitive advantage in the marketplace and in its ability to transform Hobart and William Smith.” —David H.Deming ’75, Chair, Board of Trustees
long term career and personal success. “I believe so much in this project – in its ability to give us a competitive advantage in the marketplace and in its ability to transform Hobart and William Smith – that I’ve committed $2.5 million to make it happen,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees David H. Deming ‘75 during the winter 2011 Board meeting, announcing his leadership gift to the project. “David’s gift is an extraordinary example of the level of momentum behind the performing arts,” says President Mark D. Gearan. “To date, nearly $13 million has been secured toward the Initiative’s overall goal of $28 million. On behalf of the faculty, students, staff and community members who will benefit from this project, I thank David for his generosity.” The funds committed to the Performing Arts are already the largest ever raised for a single project in the Colleges’ history. In addition to Deming’s support, the project has benefited from gifts from Trustees Bruce N. Bensley ’51, P’98, L.H.D.’01, Pete Buck ’81, P’12, Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D. ’08, Cynthia Gelsthorpe Fish ’82, Garrett A. Mathieson ’74, L. Thomas Melly ’52, L.H.D. ’02 and Allison Morrow ’76. Academic space for the performing arts was identified as a Campaign priority in 2000 when the Colleges completed a comprehensive master plan conducted by Ayers Saint Gross, a national architecture firm specializing in academic planning and design. “We took a thorough look at our campus and developed a strategic approach to mitigate the weaker points of our physical plant,” says Gearan. “These plans formed the basis of the capital portion of Campaign for the Colleges. Today’s greatest need is academic space for the performing arts.” The location for the new Performing Arts Center – across from the Scandling Campus Center and adjacent to Medbery Hall and the Quad – will make the arts an accessible and ever-present part of campus life. “The arts in general, but especially the performing arts, are often community-building enterprises,” says Professor of Education Pat Collins P’09, who recently directed a cast made up of HWS students and Geneva residents in a production of The Laramie Project. “Because the creation of a dance, play or piece of music is almost never an entirely solo endeavor, at a basic level, the performing arts are about community.” The Performing Arts Center will also be a destination point for Geneva allowing community members and students to work together on in-depth, creative projects. “The more we work together on intellectually engaging projects, the more likely we will be to see ourselves as members of a larger community,” adds Collins.
The community-building that takes place while working on a serious piece of art is fulfilling and important, but it is not the only benefit. “We often don’t recognize that the arts are cognitive as well as affective,” says Collins. “They’re not just about expression; they’re about using feelings as tools for critical thinking and knowing. They provide shape and form for thoughts, ideas and emotions that we may not otherwise be able to articulate.” Developing capacity in the arts is so fundamental that one of the Colleges’ eight curricular goals requires all students to acquire the capability to appreciate and initiate artistic self-expression. “The arts are essential to a liberal arts education,” says Interim Provost and Dean of Faculty Pat McGuire. “They allow our students to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit that is so much a part of who we are as an institution of higher learning.” And the arts make stronger students. “Some of our most successful and outstanding alums participated in the arts at HWS,” says Gearan. “They played an instrument, participated in the Little Theatre or Schola Cantorum. They danced in Koshare or Hip~Notiq’s. They sang in the Hobartones or Three Miles Lost. They made the arts a vibrant component of their educational experience.” “The multi-engaged high school student believes the arts are an important part of college, even if they don’t plan to major in the arts,” says Julia Russell Eells ’81, head of Lincoln School in Rhode Island who previously worked as Dean of Admissions and College Counseling at Miss Porter’s School and the Ethel Walker School. “It’s the quality of the program and the quality of the professors that really matter, but even if you have the best program in the country, it’s not going to be easy to attract students unless there’s a quality facility that reflects that excellence.” “Without comparable facilities to other colleges and even to high schools, we are at a disadvantage,” says Bob Murphy, vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions. “Prospective students – smart, articulate and talented students who would be wonderful additions to the campus community – are choosing other colleges because we do not have adequate academic space for the performing arts.” Over the past 20 years, The Colleges’ biggest competitors, including Skidmore, Hamilton and St. Lawrence, have invested heavily in the arts, each committing tens of millions of dollars to create and renovate performing arts spaces. In that same time period, Hobart and William Smith have invested almost nothing. In fact, since Hobart College was founded in 1822, the Colleges have not built a single facility expressly designed for performing arts. The current performing arts facilities — the Chapel, Bartlett Theatre and Winn-Seeley Dance Theatre — are dispersed across campus in settings that were never designed for these disciplines. “The Chapel is a chapel. Bartlett Theatre was built to be a ballroom and a lecture hall. Winn-Seeley is a gym,” says Deming. “We have never in the history of the Colleges had a dedicated space for dance, theatre or music. It’s time for that to change.” If you would like to discuss the Performing Arts Initiative, contact Assistant Vice President for the Performing Arts Initiative Mara O’Laughlin ’66 at (315) 781-3743 or olaughlin@hws.edu. To make a gift, call (877) HWS-GIFT or visit www.hws.edu/onlinegiving. HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
H68134_ifc_39.indd Sec1:31
31
4/8/11 8:43:41 AM