LETTER FROM THE DEAN

The 2022–23 academic year was our first guided by the three core pillars of Inclusive Excellence, Collaboration, and Community articulated in our Mason Gross Future Roadmap. The pages that follow provide ample evidence of how we have begun implementing these values, but I’ll touch on a few highlights here. We are especially excited about this year’s debut of “Interplay,” a first-year interdisciplinary course that offers collaborative experiences in each of the school’s five artistic areas. This course not only establishes collaboration as a foundation of our undergraduate curriculum but also creates networks that students will draw upon during their time with us and after they graduate.

Our collaborative efforts have also reached beyond Mason Gross. Next year we will introduce a minor in Creative Expression and the Environment that is jointly offered with the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences as well as the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Mason Gross has recently launched an Arts in Health Research Lab in partnership with the School of Public Health and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. This initiative, aimed at establishing Rutgers as a national leader in this burgeoning field of study, is meant to produce research that quantifies the impact of the arts on health and wellness in society.

We continue to build relationships with community partners as a means of broadening access to the arts. One of the feature stories in this issue describes the many avenues for students in the Department of Art & Design for engaging communities through their artwork. Mason Gross has expanded its partnership with Middlesex County and with New Brunswick Public Schools and has collaborated with the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Fine and Performing Arts in East Orange, whose high school choir was featured at our annual MLK celebration.

Inclusive excellence is at the heart of all our pursuits. Among the many illustrative examples that you’ll read about are the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and the April performance of the Kirkpatrick Choir and Glee Club at Carnegie Hall.

We ended the academic year on a high note by recognizing the excellence of two Rutgers alumni: acclaimed actor Kevin Chamberlin, who spoke at the Mason Gross commencement, and Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who delivered the Rutgers–New Brunswick commencement address and received an honorary doctorate. Seeing the torch passed from one generation to the next filled me with hope for the future—and for the role that Mason Gross will play in shaping it.

Director of Rutgers Comm unity Arts THIS m asongross.rutgers.edu

© 2023 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Mason Gross

Spring 2023 Magazine

“Isaw shows that provoked me, questioned me, screamed in my face, or simply grossed me out. And it was amazing. ”– Stage management student Molly Pair , part of a group that saw 20 plays in 21 days as part of an exploration of Berlin’s theater scene led by Head of Dramaturgy Christopher Cartmill .

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A GLOBAL TREASURE

Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare ’ s Globe celebrates 20 years in London.

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THE PLAY’S THE THING

A new schoolwide course called “ Interplay ” is steeped in cross-disciplinary collaboration.

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“ WITH ACCESS WORK INTEGRATED INTO ART, SCIENCE, TRANSPORTATION, MEDICINE, AND ARCHITECTURE, WE CREATE SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO SHOW UP FULLY AS THEMSELVES, NOT AS A PROBLEM, BUT AS A HUMAN. ”

Dance alum Anna Gichan ’s deafness spurs her to advocate for equity onstage and off.

ON THE COVER : This year ’s cohort of third-year actors and designers on stage at Shakesepare ’s Globe Theatre in London.

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Art & Design alum partners with Old Navy on a Black History Month T-shirt.

Three Theater and Music student leaders make Rutgers history.

Art & Design alum ’s work greets visitors at Newark Liberty International Airport.

EDITORIAL STAFF

E ditor: Laurie Granieri

C ontributing writers: Risa Barisch, Anna Gichan (BFA'17), Lisa Intrabartola, Mike Lucas

D esigner: Mónica Toledo-Fraginals