The University of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) have officially kicked off a campus wide event aimed at getting students involved with art and music.
The program, called the Collaboration to Promote Art and Music (CPAM), started Nov. 17 and includes “surprise” displays of art and music, taking down the barrier caused by peoples’ intimidation of galleries.
Grace Thrasher, manager of communications for the Canada Council for the Arts, told the Manitoban that it’s important for any Canadian to have access to the arts, as studies have shown that it improves quality of life.
“We always think it’s important for any Canadian, whether it’s a student, a child or an adult to have the ability to access the arts,” said Thrasher.
“It promotes creativity within the students who may be inspired by a certain piece of work. [ . . . ] There is a number of ways to introduce [art] and that would certainly be one of them. I think it may also attract more attention as it’s [out in the open],” she said.
“It speaks more to accessibility. We did a series of discussions with young people aged 18-30 [in 2007], and one of the things they told is they feel somewhat intimidated by going to art galleries,” Thrasher explained.
“Having art appear in unusual places would be one way to improve that access,” she continued.
UMSU council’s member from the U of M’s school of fine arts, Carl Magarro, said that the program is a good way for students to get their art out into the public.
“[CPAM is] a chance for students to actually have their work put up in a public area such as the U of M, like the tunnels, and we have designated zones outside for sculptures,” said Magarro.
He also explained that a tour was done to determine the best places for the display, taking into consideration high and low traffic areas along with making sure the art was clear of any construction.
“We had a tour of possible areas where we could have art put up. [ . . . ] We had to make sure it was a good place [ . . . to check if the art] will work in the area.”
Heather Laube, vice president (student services) at UMSU, explained the aim of the program in a U of M press release.
“The goal of CPAM is to promote creative student talent on campus, as it is necessary to the artistic and aesthetic environment of the university, and it helps encourage and celebrate student engagement,” said Laube.
“UMSU and the University of Manitoba are collaborating to improve the artistic and aesthetic environment at the University in a way that promotes the creative talents of the university’s students,” reports the UMSU CPAM website.
“We are very fortunate to have so many talented student artists and musicians at the University of Manitoba,” said Alan Simms, associate vice-president (administration), in the release.
“Plus, we’re showcasing across both campuses the incredible range of artistic talent of our students here,” he continued.
According to the press release, the program is broken down into three main events, “Tunnel Vision,” the creation of murals in the tunnels, “Random Acts of Music,” composed of solo and collaborated acts and the “Sculptural Experience,” a competition for creation and installation of two significant works of sculpture.
