Well, here we are at the end of the semester, and my tenure as guest arts columnist with the 'Prince' is about to run out. Over the past few weeks, I've tried to encapsulate what I perceive to be some of the biggest challenges facing the arts community here on campus: a growing disinterest from the non-arts student community, a lack of interest and funding from the University and a preponderance of mediocre artistry And yet, in the face of these many obstacles, I can't help but feel that the arts community is alive and well at Princeton and that it is fueled by a truly remarkable passion on the part of the students that comprise it.
What lies ahead for us art-makers? There really is no way to say for sure, but let me briefly summarize what I'd like to see in the future:
I'd like to see an increased communication between student artists and their non-artist colleagues, whereby the arts community will be able to appeal to non-artist students in order to make student art more accessible. I'd like to see more non-artist students wanting to come out to the theater, to the art gallery, to readings, to expositions, to concerts. I'd like to see more art that excites people (including and especially the non-arts community).
I'd like to see the needs, wishes and concerns of the arts community receive greater attention from the University. I'd like to see more money devoted to the study of the arts, a larger arts faculty, more classes in the arts, more fiscal assistance to student arts groups from the University and a greater availability of the tools needed to create art (especially spaces devoted to the arts), among other things.
I'd like to see more artistic students admitted into future classes in order that the arts community teems with different minds, opinions and personalities; in order that the possibility for truly innovative art can increase exponentially; in order that the dialogue on arts can become much more audible, much more present, much more important; in order that more people graduate and go off to careers in the arts and donate money specifically toward the cultivation of undergraduate art at Princeton. I'd like to see even more art on campus, and even greater competition among the arts community in order that the tired art we sometimes see today must give way to something fresher, smarter and more exciting. I'd like Princeton to be known as the ideal place for intelligent, talented artist-scholars. I'd like to grow old and to look back upon the cultural history of the 21st century and find that some of the country's preeminent artistic minds were cultivated at Princeton.
Most of all, I'd like the passion of Princeton artists to continue to burn strong and to burn even stronger in the years ahead.
There may be a time, someday in the future, when student arts critics like me find nothing to criticize in the state of Princeton's arts. If we in the arts community want to find ourselves without complaints, we have to begin taking steps now: we can't depend on other people to get us to that point; we have to make it happen ourselves. Let's start today.
Many thanks to all of you who've been reading. Even though I won't be writing anymore, please write me to let me know what you think we should be doing to improve the state of the arts here at Princeton.
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