Arts for All

At NC State, the arts are for everyone. That motto comes from the quest to fulfill the university’s land-grant mission and serve the citizens of North Carolina. With thousands of students participating in and enjoying the arts on campus every year, faculty and staff are also encouraged to become involved in artistic pursuits.

“The arts are universal,” said Rich Holly, NC State’s Executive Director for the Arts. “So serving faculty and staff is just as important to us as serving our students and the local community.”

Arts NC State provides myriad opportunities for enrichment through the Crafts Center, dance program, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, the Department of Music, NC State LIVE and University Theatre. Faculty and staff may purchase tickets to events hosted by any of these entities, and may also participate in more in-depth ways.

A Variety of Offerings

More than 5,000 people utilize the Crafts Center, with 55 percent of  those being non-students. A variety of classes — pottery, woodworking, metalworking, photography, weaving, lapidary and more — give faculty and staff a creative outlet and opportunity to try out new skills. Once someone demonstrates a certain level of skill in these areas, they may purchase a studio pass to expand their exploration of the visual arts. The fruit of these pursuits may find a home in the Crafts Center’s gallery space, which hosts four to six exhibitions each year.

Those with an interest in dance may opt to sign up for one of the nearly 20 free master classes led by guest teachers and choreographers. Recent offerings include modern dance, Samba, Bollywood, ballet and hip-hop. From beginners to trained dancers, participants will find a research- and content-rich approach to creating beautiful movement with no long-term commitment, perfect for busy members of the campus community.

More musically-inclined members of the faculty and staff often support the Department of Music in one way or another. The two orchestras remain a joint effort between students and community members, with auditions required. Options for involvement extend further, however. Many concerts involve some teaching or lecturing component from a faculty member, frequently a colleague from a non-arts discipline.

“Often our concerts feature a broad theme, like sustainability, or the life and works of Martin Luther King, Jr., and we’re looking to collaborate with faculty who can speak to the importance of the context and why we chose certain content,” said Holly. “We want to partner with experts across campus to create a stronger and more meaningful performance experience, to really provide a rich musical education to the audience.”

NC State LIVE, a component of Arts NC State that emphasizes engagement, education and collaboration through professional programming, seeks to work with faculty by bringing in artistic professionals to classrooms across campus in addition to outstanding performances. The entity, along with other arts units, is currently in discussion with faculty and staff around Centennial Campus about how to bring the arts to a space with no arts-based facilities.

This spring, NC State LIVE will gain a presence on Centennial Campus through the launch of a new series of free, outdoor concerts — LIVE @ Lake Raleigh. With two concerts this semester and two in the fall semester, the family-friendly events seek to get people from around campus engaging in a meaningful experience with the arts in a new way.

New artistic experiences also abound through University Theatre, which presents roughly 70 nights of live performances per year. Here, faculty and staff gain a unique opportunity for involvement, with productions often needing adult actors. In the recent sold-out run of Hairspray, The Broadway Musical, Marcy Bullock, director of professional development in the Career Development Center, took on a role. Mike Mullen, vice chancellor for the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, also provided voiceover work for a television news program in the production. Any faculty or staff member with the acting bug may contact University Theatre for upcoming performance opportunities.

For those more interested in observation of the visual arts, the Gregg Museum of Art & Design houses an impressive collection of more than 35,000 objects, provides nine new exhibitions each year, and presents regular programming that includes a film series and lectures by artists and art experts.

“Faculty and staff can contact the Gregg Museum to arrange for guided tours for classes or just groups of individuals,” said Holly. “It really is a unique experience, because the Gregg is one of the few museums where, with staff guidance, people can actually touch items in the collection. Aside from guided tours, it really is just a great place to take a break from the hectic pace of campus life.”

Why Arts NC State?

“My favorite saying is that ‘the arts make us human,’ in that they help you understand your emotions better, and develop a better sense of empathy for those around you,” said Holly. “When faculty and staff get to experience the arts where they work, it opens up thoughts, ideas and feelings they perhaps haven’t experienced before, and they’re better off because of that. I really want people to understand that the arts are an integral part of life.”

Integrating arts into each area of life provides a unique outreach opportunity for Arts NC State. Each year, the unit publishes a Curricular Connections Guide, which gives faculty the opportunity to connect what they’re teaching in class to the wide variety of programming offered. This helps demonstrate to a wide audience that the arts can find a home in any discipline, from education to engineering and beyond.

What’s Next

Over the next five years, Holly seeks to expand Arts NC State to further integrate programming into different academic areas, as well as find ways to expand the space available for performances. He also wants to get even more people knowledgeable about and involved in the arts on campus, which he considers one of the area’s best-kept secrets.

The secret is getting out, and more people are starting to take notice. A recent IndyWeek article on “28 Reasons We Love the Triangle,” the publication’s No. 23 reason was “Because NC State is upping its arts and culture game.” Holly attributes that in part to the high quality offerings of Arts NC State.

“The arts at NC State are amazing and we want people to know and experience Arts NC State in many different ways,” said Holly. “There are faculty, staff and students from every college involved in the arts here. Once they get a taste of the arts, they keep coming back, and if they have a desire for artistic involvement, we are here for them.”

People Profile: Rich Holly, Executive Director, Arts NC State

How are you involved with the arts at NC State?

I am a percussionist. Within my first three months here I had started a faculty band – The Quadrivium Project. Our other members are Gary Beckman, who leads the Entrepreneurship in the Arts Program, Katherine Annett-Hitchcock from the College of Textiles, Tommy Holden from Health and Exercise Studies and Tom Koch from the Music Department.

What do you do with the Quadrivium Project?

Last year we did a tribute to Led Zeppelin, and this year we’re working on something called “Deep Cuts.” This project explores how FM radio stations in the 70s would often play the full side of an album or the full version of a shorter song after midnight, and we’re playing songs from that era. Actually, we’re creating an entire experience, bringing on a groundbreaking female DJ from that era (who was responsible for getting the band RUSH their first record contract), along with professional lighting, sound, and video production. It is going to be a really outstanding experience where we hope to educate others on something musical they may not have known about before.