University shines spotlight on performance space

Representatives from the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and the Provost met last week to hear the results of the Arts Review ordered by President Shapiro last spring.

The review was a response to the Performing Arts Council's status report released in February 2000.

Claudia Chouinard, an outside consultant from Results Group International, presented the status report.

"I believe the conclusions the consultant reached and the information she gathered will serve as the guidelines for the University's policies towards improving the performing arts for at least the next 10 years," Adam Friedman '01 — recent winner of the Pyne Prize and a participant in the campus arts community — said in an e-mail.

Because the review was done by a third party, the University will have the chance to look at an unbiased evaluation of the status of arts on campus, Friedman said.

He said two of Chouinard's principal recommendations were the formation of a separate office for the performing arts similar to the model used at Harvard University, and major adjustments to the policies governing Richardson Auditorium.

Harvard's system is much more centralized than Princeton's and offers more assistance to performing arts groups. The office organizes many of the logistics, such as scheduling performances and rehearsals and obtaining the rights for shows.

Friedman said, "[Chouinard's] idea is a very good idea for Princeton's de-centralized performing arts community."

Friedman said one of the main problems with the current Richardson policy is that it does not give precedence to student organizations. "From a student group perspective, Richardson gives [us] very low priority in scheduling groups into the year and has extremely high usage fees," he said.

He said groups are not asked their preferences for weekends but are instead informed of available time slots, many of which fall at inconvenient times for students, such as exams.

"Being an undergraduate institution, this kind of priority schedule and expense seems unfair to us, and the consultant seemed to agree," Friedman said.

The council, which did not become an official group until last spring, was founded to address the needs of the performing arts community.

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"There were so many needs that we had that we decided to write them all down in one place and give it to all those in power," Friedman said. "President Shapiro seemed to agree that a review was needed to address these issues."

The original PAC report addressed numerous problems currently facing the arts community.

"Princeton does have the potential to become a haven for actors and dancers, and the student theater and dance groups would like to work with the administration towards achieving this goal," the report said.

It cited lack of performance space as one of the major issues. "None of [the venues on campus] provide adequate support for student productions, in terms of quantity and/or quality," according to the report.

Another problem cited by the report was the difficulty of obtaining funding. It recommended the formation of a centralized arts fund to remedy the situation.

The PAC report said an overall problem is that prospective students who are interested in the arts may not consider Princeton because of the University's relative lack of resources compared to its peer schools.

"If the University can invest so much in athletic recruitment and support, it seems that it would be possible to invest a similar amount of effort in making the University a haven for artists as well as athletes," the report said.

Friedman said there is not usually a scheduled review of the arts every year.

"Over time, the students' demands out-run the University's resources and policies, and this unrest somehow reaches the administration," Friedman said. "In this case, this took the form of the Performing Arts Council being founded and the writing of the status report."

There has not been a comprehensive review of the situation of arts groups on campus since a 1985 report commissioned by then-President William Bowen.