April 15, 2004
Art, music combine for dual-school open house
Two for one is usually a good deal, and on Friday, April 23, the University community will have the opportunity to attend two events at the same time. The schools of Art and Music are joining forces to hold a combined open house from 2 until 7:30 p.m. that day.
The whole celebration begins with a fanfare outdoors by music’s Trombone Quartet, and from that moment on there will be nonstop events scheduled in the two buildings that face each other at the north end of the Quad.
The combined event builds on the experience of the School of Art, which has been holding its own open house for the last three years and has drawn 3,000 to 4,000 visitors, according to Judy Clark, director of academic advising and student services in art. Clark said the event is a recruiting tool, but also a chance for the campus and outside community to “see who we are and what we do.”
Autumn Yoke, the School of Music’s educational outreach and student recruitment coordinator, said school administrators have been “watching and visiting and thinking what a good idea the open house is.” So this year the two schools decided to combine their efforts and double the fun for participants.
The events planned showcase both the academic and performance portions of their programs. Art is planning exhibits and sales of student work throughout the building, and in the Ceramics and Metal Arts Building and the Sand Point drawing and painting studios as well. Vans will shuttle visitors from campus to the latter two buildings. There also will be demonstrations of throwing clay and pulling prints, and open studios to visit.
Over on the music side you’ll be able to hear everything from jazz and classical performances to music from Bali and China. Visitors also will have the opportunity to hear recordings from around the world in the Music Library listening center and to try out music composition software in the Music Composition Lab.
For the more academically inclined, faculty and students from both schools will give short lectures on such subjects as public art and brain imaging and music.
The event culminates with a 7 p.m. presentation by the directors of the schools — Robin McCabe, music; and Christopher Ozubko, art. McCabe will play selections from Pictures at an Exhibition while slides of the paintings that inspired the piece are shown. Ozubko will present slides taken at the open house itself by a team of students in the Visual Communication Design program.
Clark said the art open house has grown over the years — from a primarily campus event to one that attracts high school and community college students as well as gallery owners who want to visit graduate student studios and art school alums who want to reconnect. She expects the audience to expand even more with music’s participation.
“It’s been wonderful working with them and getting the benefit of all their community contacts,” she said.
Music is similarly happy. “Some people seem to see music as stuffy and off to ourselves,” Yoke said. “We wanted to take this opportunity to show off our talented faculty and students to the community.”
A full schedule of events for the open house can be found at http://art.washington.edu/events/oh04/openhouse.html.
