Report on Arts and Culture Committees and Activities

Provost Robert Barchi has convened three committees comprised of students, faculty and staff, all of which deal with various aspects of the artistic and cultural environment at Penn. They are:

  • The Provost's Council on Arts and Culture
  • The Provost's Advisory Committee on Music Performance at Penn
  • The Student Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture at Penn

Mission Statements:

The Provost's Council on Arts and Culture: The Provost's Council on Arts and Culture was established in the fall of 1999 for the purpose of promoting artistic and cultural endeavor at Penn. The Council is comprised of the Directors of all of Penn's major arts and culture venues and is chaired by Deputy Provost Peter Conn. The Council's goal is to design and execute new cooperative initiatives which build on the centers' various strengths and provide mutual benefits. Current objectives include raising student awareness of the arts and culture opportunities available to them at the University and developing new audiences from throughout the Delaware Valley.

The Provost's Advisory Committee on Music Performance at Penn: In the spring of 2001, the Provost convened a new advisory committee whose mission is to evaluate the position of music in the cultural life of the University and to consider ways in which the role of music at Penn may be enhanced. The recent creation of a College House System and, more generally, the priority being given to strengthening undergraduate education at Penn call for re-evaluation of the role of music in the social and cultural life of the academic community. This committee, which is comprised of faculty and staff members from across the University, will set goals for enhancing musical activity at Penn and consider how these goals might best be realized. The committee is chaired by Deputy Provost Peter Conn.

The Student Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture at Penn: The mission of this committee is to work with the two bodies described above to promote access to arts and culture at Penn among the student body. Comprised of students representing many areas of artistic endeavor, the committee both develops proposals on its own and works cooperatively with the Music Committee and the Arts and Culture Council to raise the visibility of the arts on campus. Next year, graduate student representatives will join the undergraduates currently on the Committee.

Membership of the three bodies is as follows:

Arts and Culture Council

Rebecca Bushnell, Associate Dean for the Humanities, SAS
Peter Conn, Deputy Provost, Chair
Terry Conn, Assistant Vice Provost for University Life
Aaron Couch, Chair of Student Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture
Vincent Curren, General Manager of WXPN
Al Filreis, Director of Kelly Writers House
Anita Gelburd, Assistant to the Deputy Provost
Bonnie Gibson, Exec. Dir. of Administrative Affairs for the Provost's Office
Claudia Gould, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art
Gary Hack, Dean of the Graduate School of Fine Arts
Amy Johnson, Director of Special Projects for Business Services
Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, Vice Provost for University Life
Eugene Narmour, Director of the Penn Humanities Forum
Nancy Nowicki Nicely, Exec. Dir. of External Affairs, Office of the Provost
Lee Nunery, Vice President for Business Services
Michael Rose, Director of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Jeremy Sabloff, Director of the University Museum
Dilys Winegrad, Director of the Arthur Ross Gallery

Music Performance Committee

Ralph Amado, Professor of Physics
David Brownlee, Professor of Art History, Director of College House Programs
Rebecca Bushnell, Professor of English and Associate Dean, SAS
Peter Conn, Deputy Provost, Chair
Colin Diver, Professor of Law
Anita Gelburd, Assistant to the Deputy Provost
Christopher Hasty, Professor of Music
Richard Herring, Professor of Finance and Director of the Lauder Institute
Nancy Hornberger, Professor of Education
Eric Kaplan, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
Virginia Lee, Co-Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research
Eugene Narmour, Professor of Music, Director of the Penn Humanities Forum
Jay Reise, Professor of Music
Michael Rose, Director of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Gary Tomlinson, Professor and Chair of Music

Student Advisory Committee

Aaron Couch, College '01, Chair
Peter Epstein, College '01
Virginia Graham, College '02
Nicholas Kruse, College '02, Chair-elect
Aisha Lyons, College '02
Marcus McGee, College '01

Provost's Council on Arts and Culture End-of-year Report AY 2000-2001

Background

The Provost's Council on Arts and Culture was first convened in November 1999. The mission of the Council is to find opportunities for collaboration among Penn's arts and culture organizations. Given their many common goals and challenges, these resource centers can benefit from finding and exploiting the synergies among them.

Activities AY 2000-2001

During this, its second year of activity, the Council worked on a number of important initiatives, including the following:

  1. sponsored a Provost's Evening of Arts and Culture at Penn during New Student Orientation, to introduce entering students to the cultural and artistic resources of the University;
  2. convened a student advisory committee, which developed a marketing proposal designed to improve student attendance at arts and culture events;
  3. sponsored a series of concerts by Curtis Institute students in the College Houses; and,
  4. participated in the University's strategic planning process as it relates to arts and culture.

Future Plans

Next year, the Council intends to:

  1. explore common development possibilities, for instance, corporate underwriting of multi-venue events;
  2. develop new programs to increase the visibility of Penn's arts and cultural venues in the local region, especially West Philadelphia; and,
  3. develop programs to integrate the resources available in these venues with the academic and intellectual mission of the University.

--Peter Conn, Chair, Provost's Council on Arts and Culture

Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 31, April 24, 2001

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