By Emily Weber, Contributing Writer
St. Bonaventure University. Basketball. These two phrases are synonymous. Not many students choose this school for its participation in the arts. If you find the artistic path is the one you choose to follow here, you will have to overturn many stones before finding an opportunity. When you do find that rare stone, your work will likely be overlooked. You will have to work twice as hard for any kind of recognition.
Thankfully, most of the artists I know do not work for the accolades. They do it for the love of the work. These are the kind of artists you will find at Bonaventure. We face a myriad of obstacles every year. Despite our major lack of funding, space and materials; we soldier on.
To paint you a picture – Butler Memorial Gymnasium sits in the center of campus. It is one of the oldest buildings here. On the side of the building you will find a set of stairs leading to a locked door. The door is easy to miss if you do not know it’s there, much like the arts here at Bonaventure. A wall of hot and humid air immediately greets anyone brave enough to open that door. Past that wall of heat you will find a wooden dance floor and mirrors on the front and back walls. You will not find much else down there, other than a few flimsy ballet barres and a speaker, both purchased with the SBU Dance Team’s measly budget. Without windows, the air in the basement is stifling. Lack of ventilation and proper space to spread out in the era of COVID-19 makes the space impossible to use.
About 75 students make up the SBU Dance Team, making it one of the biggest clubs on campus.
Without access to Butler basement, we have no rehearsal space. That is, no rehearsal space the university cares to provide. This leaves 75 students, mostly underclassmen, without a creative outlet or a space to get involved in the Bonaventure community.
Some people might suggest joining a new club.
Let us assume most of the students joining the dance team have some interest in the arts. The Bonaventure website advertises a whopping seven clubs under the category of “The Arts.” As of this semester, only three of those clubs are active. With the dance team unable to rehearse, that leaves two clubs to choose from – the Chattertons Poetry Club and The Laugh Pack Comedy Club.
Year after year the university overlooks the dance team despite it being one of its most popular extracurricular activities.
The bottom of the page also states that students may “earn academic credit while pursuing their passion for music and performance by enrolling in for-credit ensembles offered by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts’ music program.” These include concert band, jazz band, concert choir, chamber singers and chamber ensembles.
I cannot speak for concert band or jazz band. However, as a member of both the chamber singers and concert choir, I had that opportunity robbed from me this year. After a year filled with disappointment from cancelled events, concert choir found a way to make it work with a virtual concert.
Last week, university officials informed us that we could no longer hold the virtual concert because they just did not have the time for us. Another disappointment added to the list.
One could argue that it is the safety protocols of COVID-19 preventing our student artists from thriving. I find that hard to believe as I watch intramural, club and division sports continue their practices across campus.
It is a matter of wanting to make it work. When it comes to the arts, university administration seemingly will not budge.
These problems plagued us long before COVID-19 did.
I added a double major in theater two years ago. Since pursuing an education in the arts here at Bonaventure, I feel as if I fell to the bottom of the academic food chain.
Classes that I needed to graduate were cancelled or not offered due to lack of proper staffing and interest.
I hear the same complaints from students in the visual arts program. The lack of suitable materials, like a simple glaze for ceramics, made it difficult for students to see success in their projects.
I do not want to undermine the small staff we do have. With about one professor per arts discipline on this campus; they make up the smallest, hardest working group of people here.
We now return to the basement of Butler, which doubles as the home for our costume and props shop.
During my time in this space I found tape measures, fabric chalk, leaky pipes and an old thermometer that consistently reads 93 degrees (because that is how hot it is down there.) Nothing screams safety hazard like a large puddle right next to the radial arm saw. Still, nothing changes.
So, why worry about funding? Why worry about investing time and energy into the arts? With enrollment increasing by the year at Bonaventure it seems like we do not need it.
Nonetheless, we do need it.
People assume involvement in the arts means being the next Picasso or Meryl Streep. It is so much more than that. It is about basic human connection. The arts teach us empathy. They give us the opportunity to look at the world through different perspectives.
According to a study by The Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., participation in the arts leads to greater social tolerance and increased civic engagement. On the front page of the university’s website you will find promises of commitment to those very things. The university vows a community of compassion to its students but neglects the tools we need to build it.
I hope future students can experience something more than just empty promises. I hope eventually the Bonaventure community sees what has been clear to me the whole time. The arts matter.
weberer17@bonaventure.edu
