The Arts On Campus in April

The month of April is known for its spectacular showcasing of the arts around campus. To kick things off this month, Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone was performed at Gulick Theatre and was directed by PCA professor Ann Marie Halstead. The play deals with death, mourning, memory, and technology in the modern era. Roles in these plays are open to students from all majors and acting backgrounds. Speaking from my past experience with the PCA department’s plays, I owe a lot to the experience which allowed me to work on an extensive project outside of my major and to build strong relationships with students and faculty across department lines.

A short walk down the hall from Gulick Theatre, you’ll come across the Brush Art Gallery. The art gallery cycles a number of exhibitions throughout the year. This month’s display features the Senior-Year-Experience projects of seven of our highly talented Art majors.  The students were asked to recreate some works or aspects of a work from the university’s permanent collection (which, by the way, consists of about 7,000 pieces of original art). Also featured is a display of micrographs by Assistant Professor of Biology Alex Schreiber and Visiting Professor of Anthropology Mindy Pitre. Schreiber’s scans depict fluorescent X-ray photos of fish, amphibians, and other vertebrates while Pitre’s show cross sections of ancient bones that have been affected by micro-organisms. Framing a science lecture as an art exhibit is a classic example of the way a liberal arts education connects knowledge from a variety of different fields. 

To top off a well-rounded liberal arts education, many classes choose to incorporate the arts into their curriculum. Dr. Erin McCarthy’s Asian Philosophy class along with Dr. Mark MacWilliams’ Religious Life in Japan class went to the ceramics lab in Griffiths Art Center to make Raku tea bowls to complement their study of the Japanese tea ceremony. Here students are applying a colorful glaze to their bowls before the bowls are fired.

This past Thursday the music department put forward a strong showing with a concert by the all-female rhythm & roots band Femme Fatale. The girls absolutely rocked the stage at the Underground in the Noble Center and had the audience on their feet for most of the show. Shout out to my dorm mates Nya Blocker, Srna Dabikj, and Mallory Garretson who were part of the band and put on a great performance. Click here to see Femme Fatale perform a cover of “The Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + the Machine.

One last mention goes out to Infinite Inertia: a.k.a. our spring dance showcase. This performance features a number of dances from our Beginning Ballet, Modern Dance, and Independent Study classes and many other choreographed performances. The show is this Friday and Saturday and my inside sources have told me that there are some pretty cool dances in store. I haven’t missed a single showcase since I started at St. Lawrence so I’ll definitely be picking up my tickets at the box office tomorrow afternoon.

And, to finally close things off, how’s this for a hidden gem? The brown paper board in Griffiths offers students a space for free speech and public art. This month’s question asks, “Reason Why You Are Happy Right Now?” So feel free to drop some comments here and let me know what makes you happy about SLU, the arts, or anything in general! I’d love to hear it.