Animating the Creative Campus
Education and Engagement for the 21st Century
Every leader in higher education wants to walk out in front of parents, students, alumni, and members of the broader community and say, “See what can happen at a place like this….” Arts-driven collaborations on campus offer inspiring examples of such high-impact, mind-expanding undertakings. Presidents, provosts and deans should initiate conversations on their campuses about how to better deploy artistic assets to advance their institutional missions – specifically to deepen learning, spur innovation, build community and commitment, and demonstrate the unique value of a 21st century education organized around face-to-face collaborative discovery. The time has come to take the lessons from the Association of Performing Arts Presenter’s (APAP) Creative Campus Innovations Grant experiment and apply them broadly across higher education.
Montclair State University/Peak Performances: Wayne McGregor|Random Dance residency (top); University of Iowa/Hancher Auditorium Eye Piece Project, clockwise from middle left: Playwright, Rinde Eckert, student cast members, Hancher Staff, and representatives from funding organizations meet to discuss thoughts and reactions to the project.