2021-22 Arts Council Grant: Arts Grounds Day
Arts Grounds Day (now known as the UVA Arts Welcome Picnic) has been a tradition for the past five years, where UVA Arts invites undergraduate & graduate students & Arts Faculty & Staff to Arts Grounds for a free cookout & open house. This provides people across grounds to connect and creatively engage with one another, with a specific emphasis on allowing First Years to learn about opportunities from the Visual & Performing Arts & Architecture community.
The event has grown from 600 to 1,000 to 1,300 students, faculty & staff, including higher administration officials each year. The picnic welcomes students to Arts Grounds in a non-intimidating way & shows them what the Arts have to offer at UVA. The goal of the picnic this year was to continue growing to reach over 1,300 students.
With the support of the Arts Council, the 2021 UVA Arts Grounds Day was a complete success! The participating Departments & Programs included: Architectural History, Architecture, Art History, Arts Libraries, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, The Fralin Museum of Art, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Landscape Architecture, Miller Arts Scholars, Music, Studio Art, University Career Center, Urban & Environmental Planning, UVA Arts, UVA Arts Box Office, Virginia Film Festival, & WTJU Radio. Some of the many fun activities included a photobooth and a table where Creative Writing students did poems-on-demand on old-school typewriters. Food was catered by Harvest Moon.
Over 1,300 students were reached, and departments reached new audiences as they added folks to their newsletter lists, audition schedules, and were able to enroll more folks in classes that had empty seats. It was especially enjoyable for people to physically get back together after being apart for so long during the Pandemic! Stay tuned for Arts Grounds Day 2022!
Words from the UVA Arts Community:
“Arts Grounds Day has allowed the Library to interact with a variety of students we might not encounter if we waited for them to enter our more formal academic spaces. Through casual interactions (and activities like button-making!) we are able to engage students and connect them with resources that can change their experience at UVA. It’s a perfect opportunity to make the Library (and the Arts!) less intimidating, and to welcome students who don’t usually think of libraries when they think of art.”
“This has been a dynamic way for those of us who teach creative writing to get the word out about the very new concentration area in literary prose (APLP) and the long-thriving poetry program (APPW). It’s been an especially effective way to reach minority students and/or non-English majors for whom an undergraduate creative writing concentration might not otherwise have become an appealing possibility.”
From a student: “It normalizes being creative at UVA, creates a sense of tradition, and marks the start of the year.” “Since it is my job to build community, I can think of no better way than by engaging in this event. Each year I gain a long list of students who are interested in creative work (jobs and internships) but may never see the career center as relevant. By having me in the Arts Grounds space, I gain credibility with the students”
This project was proposed by Emma Terry, Programs & Communication Director for UVA Arts.
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About the UVA Arts Council: The Arts Council provides advocacy and support for current and increased programming in the arts at the University of Virginia. The Council supports projects that develop and strengthen the bonds of interest and participation among departments and programs across Grounds, fostering opportunities for creative innovation, learning, and engagement. Members of UVA’s Arts Council believe that a strong, robust arts community at UVA enriches the student experience, builds bridges in our larger community, and inspires leaders of the next generation. Check out all awarded grants here
