It’s The Arts All The Time
Wander down a particular hallway in Holloway Hall and you get a sense that the students who live there have an artistic bent. Doors and walls sport splashy decorations, rooms are frequently equipped with musical instruments or filmmaking gear, and students always seem to be heading off to the dance studio or the music practice room. Welcome to the Appreciating the Arts Parliament, one of 10 special-interest residential groupings in the residence hall for first-year students.
“There’s a creativity vibe,” says Residence Director Sage Ober, who is responsible for all of the parliaments, whose themes range from community service to academic excellence to substance-free living. “I have music majors, film majors, art majors, graphic design majors, theatre and dance majors,” says the parliament’s resident assistant, Eddie Harris, a senior film major. “Everything. Plus a few who are interested in arts but major in something else. It’s just arts all the time. It never stops.”
Harris does his share of typical RA duties like substance-abuse education and mediating roommate conflicts. But he’s also charged with programming arts-related events. In September he organized an open-mike night that attracted students from throughout Holloway and from other residence halls. The show included “instrumental music, piano, vocals, lots of guitar, a little banjo, a little ukulele, some slam poetry, and some opera,” he notes. He followed that up with a scavenger hunt that involved tracking down specific pieces of art on campus. He’s also reached out to Shannon Mayers, director of Keene State’s Redfern Arts Center. She provides him with tickets to shows, which he passes on to the 53 students in his charge.
One recent favorite was a concert by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Living with people who share interests is a great way for new college students to start conversations and forge friendships, says Ober, who credits Harris with setting the tone and creating the events that make the Arts Parliament successful. “There’s an inspiration, too, in an upperclassman who’s heavily involved in his field. Eddie is working on his senior project film right now,” she says. “It’s great for first-year students to have someone to look up to. That’s a benefit as well.”
