Artists in Residence

Henry M. Cowles ’08 is frustrated. Though there are many things for a Harvard freshman to be frustrated about, his source of frustration isn’t the typical complaint about a TF’s incomprehensible accent or the curving of a final to a B-. Four months ago, Cowles called the Carpenter Center, the hub of the Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) program, seeking space and opportunities to paint. He never heard back and in the following months has still been unable to locate space and materials. Cowles finds this not only frustrating, but puzzling.

“At a school with such a huge amount of resources, this just seems like an obvious thing to have,” says Cowles. “Students, as part of their activity fee, get to use the [Malkin Athletic Center (MAC)], but if you don’t utilize that and would rather have a venue for exercising artistically, there’s nothing available.”

This is not an experience unique to Cowles. Many freshmen may find themselves frustrated with the narrow scope of visual arts programs the college offers to first years, as well as the lack of publicity for the programs that do exist. Another freshman, Henry J. Foo ’08, e-mailed the VES department looking for information on painting outside of class. He did receive a reply, though not a particularly helpful one.

“I used the term ‘recreational painting’ and I think they were a little offended by that,” he recalls about the “brusque” reply. Though Foo has few other complaints about the department, he does wish “they were more open to giving students information” about access to the campus’s arts resources.

Though the VES department may strike some students as inhospitable to non-concentrators, they certainly should not have to bear the burden of addressing all of Harvard’s art needs. But concentrating in economics shouldn’t cut off a student from opportunities for artistic expression, and searching outside of Carpenter’s concrete walls is often the best bet. Harvard does have many art programs to serve precisely those students who aren’t majoring in VES, but don’t want to give up art.

The Office for the Arts (OFA) sponsors a ceramic program that offers classes for all members of the Harvard community at all levels of experience. The classes usually charge a fee, but scholarships are available for those with need. Students with experience can also choose a drop-in option for $50, allowing them access to the studio and materials on weekends. For those unsure of the appeal of wet clay, the ceramics program hosts a Clay All Night party once a semester. According to Jessica S. Hoy ’07, undergraduate coordinator for the ceramics studio, Clay All Night is unique because “people with no experience can come down and try out the wheel.”

The OFA also sponsors Learning from Performers, a program that brings renowned artists from myriad artistic fields to Harvard, allowing students to participate in a seminar taught by the artist. The upcoming LFP event is on March 11 with multimedia artist DJ Spooky, featuring his film remix project “Rebirth of a Nation.”

The Student Friends of the Harvard University Art Museums offer a variety of programs to members (memberships can be purchased for $45). Recently they’ve sponsored talks by leading art law experts and a celebration following the recent calligraphy exhibition. Ongoing is a four-part program entitled “Processes” that intends to expose students to every part of the art cycle, from creation to conservation. Every month, the Friends also have a guided tour of one aspect of the museums, followed by a reception.

But none of these programs are close to the visual arts outlet for which Cowles and Foo are searching. If these two want easy access to a comprehensive variety of arts spaces and options, they’re going to have to wait another year. Each of the college’s 12 residential houses provides at least some form of creative outlet for undergraduates looking for a recreational approach to the arts. Opportunities range from house opera societies performing full-blown productions with dozens of participants to communal knitting circles with a handful of dedicated members.

What follows is a house-by-house look at the plethora of arts programs that each of the houses offers. The class of 2008 and future freshman classes may find another reason to celebrate come housing assignment day, while upperclassmen can learn about the opportunities right under their noses.

ADAMS HOUSE

No, The Pool sadly isn’t a pool anymore. But the Adams House Pool Theatre on the first floor of B-Entry makes up for this disappointment by hosting Harvard performances, ranging from this past Tuesday’s Jamaica Voices music/reading event to a wide variety of student plays and musicals. The more modest Kronauer Space has recently become a workshop space for works-in-progress and small showcases. Applications for booking either space can be found on the Adams House website.

Squash enthusiasts will be devastated by the transformation of Adams basement’s squash courts into the flourishing ArtSpace gallery/studio. Art lovers, however, are welcome to suggest or help plan one of the space’s frequently changing exhibitions (contact Jen Mergel ’98 at jmergel@andover.edu). Adamsians can also indulge their repressed graffiti-artist urges by submitting and painting designs during the annual spring Tunnel Painting of Adams’ basement walls.

Bow & Arrow Press, located below B-Entry, is the answer to all of your personal printing needs. With student-run press nights (usually on Thursdays), Bow & Arrow teaches a wide range of printing and book arts, enabling students to make their own paper projects (contact Ralph G. Vetters ’85 at ralph_vetters@student.hms.harvard.edu.

CURRIER HOUSE

Though Currier residents may get most use out of their massive film collection (over 400 videos), other resources abound. Artist John Imber teaches a weekly Figure Drawing class each semester. Space in the class is limited to fifteen and registration is limited to the first three days of the semester, making participation currently impossible, but next year, all undergraduates can call the OFA at 5-8676 for more details.

The Currier House Drama Society, which sponsored last semester’s production of Peanut Butter and Juliet, hosts original productions in the Fishbowl, Mousehole, and Dance Studio.All the other usual stuff is also available: practice rooms, darkroom, and woodshop, all fully outfitted but open to House residents only. Use of the darkroom costs $35 per semester. For facilities information, e-mail currier@fas.harvard.edu.

CABOT HOUSE

Up until last semester, Cabot could boast of its very own rock star, but now that Rivers Cuomo has moved on to greener pastures, the next best thing is, of course, the Cabot House Spring Musical. The show takes place annually in the JCR, with a cast comprised solely of Cabotians.

Other dramatic ventures take place in the Underground Theater, located in the Whitman Basement (contact Susan Livingston, slivings@fas.harvard.edu) The Cabot Drama Society also honors Dr. Seuss at an annual Grinch reading.

Other Cabot House facilities include a Dance Studio (Cabotians can make reservations with Livingston), an Art Studio (welcoming budding artists of all levels—from stick figure Picassos to future Pollocks), and a fully-equipped Dark Room (annual fee, Cabotians only) located in the basement directly under the JCR. For questions, email slivings@fas.harvard.edu.

DUNSTER HOUSE

Seeing a Pavarotti-sized hole in the number of opera productions at Harvard’s other stages, the Dunster House Opera was founded in 1992 to introduce opera as “something undergraduates can tackle, not a lofty art form.” Their annual February productions (Candide closed last week after a successful run) holds auditions in September, and draws on both opera neophytes and more experienced performers from among the undergraduate population.

Dunster House also features a Creative Writers lecture series, which this past Monday featured Lost At Sea playwright Laura Harrington, who offered career advice for aspiring fiction writers.

A stroll through Dunster’s basement complex is itself a path to a number of artistic options. A-entryway features four practice rooms, including a practice space for bands with Dunsterite members between 5 and 7 p.m. (sign up in the Superintendent’s Office). B-entryway features a pottery studio that can “accommodate everyone who wants to work there.” The J-entryway basement sports a darkroom and a free photo studio equipped with 2500-W lights, umbrellas and background stands.

ELIOT HOUSE

Eliot’s thriving Arts scene is headed up by enthusiastic tutors. Gustavo S. Turner (gsturner@fas.harvard.edu) organizes events in the Media Lab (located under F-entry) ranging from film screenings to workshops and lectures. The Media Lab is also the home of the Golden Arm coffee house. Opportunities for students include film programming, DJing, designing posters, and more. The majority of Golden Arm devotees live in Eliot, but visitors are welcome.

Tutor Gerry Sullivan (gsullivan@keefearch.com) runs the Woodshop in the basement of D-entry and sometimes offers introductory wood-working courses, depending on interest. Student work from the Woodshop and the Art Studio (basement of A-entry, Eliotites can get a key from the Superintendent) is showcased every spring the House Library’s River Show, organized by tutor Jennifer B. Johnston. The house mural extending throughout the basement tunnels is a work in progress.

Other residential opportunities include music rooms in C- and E-entries, a Photography Room under F-entry (use requires a nominal fee, contact Turner) and a basement Dance Studio between the C- and D-entries. Keys are available in the Superintendent’s office.

KIRKLAND HOUSE

For having once been deemed the “jock house,” Kirkland House is working hard to stake out its own arts territory, offering residents a wide array of musical facilities, performance opportunities and studio space.

Kirkland’s practice rooms are available for performers of all skill levels. Pianists can tickle the ivories of the two pianos located in the practice rooms in the basement of Entryways B and C. After auditioning for resident music tutor Jonathan Kregor (kregor@fas.harvard.edu), the Bosendorfer and Steinway in the Junior Common Room are also free game.

With all of this musical rehearsal space, it is not surprising that the musically inclined are often invited to perform at Masters’ Open Houses, Teas, and other special functions.

For the paparazzi-at-heart, a fully stocked darkroom in the Brian Hall Basement (“the Annex”) houses all the equipment and chemicals necessary for developing photographs. Keys to the darkroom and practice rooms are available daily to interested Kirkland residents at the Superintendent’s Office.

LEVERETT HOUSE

Low-key Leverett is best known for hosting a well-attended 80’s dance each semester, and artistic opportunities in this House are similarly sporadic. Currently, several hundred student photographs developed in the Leverett darkroom (located in the D-entry basement, open to all) are on display in the dining hall.The Old Library Theater, just inside the entrance to McKinlock, hosts small-scale productions by student groups across campus (recently, Chekhov’s Three Sisters played there) and, at the end of the second semester, a Coffeehouse showcasing Leverites.Leverett also boasts an under-used Art Studio (Leverett residents only, A-entry basement), a Music Practice Room (Leverett residents only, G-tower basement), and a Film Society video collection featuring mainstream and slightly-less-mainstream rentals.The Leverett arts scene saw its heyday in 2000, when the extensive but outdated Arts Society webpage was last updated. The house once boasted weekly figure-drawing classes open to everyone, which shows what might be done with a little initiative. According to tutor Nicholas P. Vines, “For all intents and purposes, there is no Arts Society at Leverett, just a whole lot of money waiting for people to spend it.” Only time will tell.

LOWELL HOUSE

At the heart of the Lowell visual arts scene is the Lowell Arts Guild, coordinated by assistant senior tutor Debbie Sorensen (dsorens@fas.harvard.edu). The Guild provides painting classes every semester in the Art Room (located in the basement of L-entry).

The Lowell Music Society (to join, contact Channing Yu ’93 at cyu@post.harvard.edu) organizes and sponsors the Lowell House Last-Minute Orchestra and Chorus, which performs major works after only two days’ rehearsal; an annual Tchaikovsky performance featuring kazoos and cannons; and the famed Lowell House Opera (LHO). The LHO’s performances, occasionally featuring local professionals in addition to undergraduates, are a stepping stone for aspiring Placidos.

Rockers will want to look up Lowell House artist-in-residence and renowned guitarist Livingston Taylor, who offers guitar and performance clinics throughout the year (LivingstonTaylor@aol.com).

For those who prefer the sweet smell of developing chemicals, Lowell has a fully equipped darkroom located under D-entry, though it is only available to Lowell residents (contact Gabriel Abraham at abraham@fas.harvard.edu). And for those who are looking to keep warm through the Cambridge winter, there is always the Lowell Knitting Circle, which hosts regular meetings in the Senior Common Room.

PFORZHEIMER HOUSE

Though infrequently utilized, the crown jewel of Pfoho’s musical resources, the Quad Sound Studio, offers up-and-coming artists professional-quality recording equipment. Founded in 1988 by Pfoho students, with the assistance of affiliates Bob and Holly Doyle, the Sound Studio continues to rock the basement of Holmes. Contact tutor Justin M. Linam (linam@fas.harvard.edu) for more information on getting key access to the Studio.

Located in the basement of Holmes, the Pforzheimer Art Studio is a haven for those who delight in painting and sculpting. For key access to the space and more information on classes and supplies, contact tutors R. Craig Crouch (crouchri@gse.harvard.edu) and Valencia D. Thomas ’96 (vthomas1@partners.org).

For those more attached to their tripod than their tube of Utrecht watercolors, Pfoho’s darkroom, in the basement of Comstock, provides students with a full range of modern equipment for developing and enlarging black and white film. Cheaper than a disposable Kodak camera, darkroom membership is available by the semester to House residents and affiliates. In addition to access to the darkroom, membership guarantees chemicals, film, and a locked storage spaces. Contact darkroom director Scott L. Peterson (peters2@fas.harvard.edu).

MATHER HOUSE

Mather House’s central Three Columns Gallery (located in the foyer below the dining hall) makes the most of its paltry wall space, consistently offering provocative exhibits from area and national artists. The current exhibit, entitled “Intimacies,” features the work of Maggie Arnold and Anna Galloway Highsmith; the former seeks to communicate through her art the intimacy of Jane Austen’s novels, while Highsmith crafts her work as a record of her own creative process. The gallery director, tutor Amanda F. Jack (ajack@fas.harvard.edu) plans to next exhibit the distorted plastic-toy photography of Peter Smuts.

Mather’s pottery studio (in the basement of the tower) offers weekly courses, where Harvard-affiliated women in their late 20s, forward-thinking male undergraduates looking to make that perfect Valentine’s Day gift-—and anyone else who’s interested-—gather to learn braid- and pot-making from Pamela Gorgone. Enrolled students are given keys to the studio for outside of class hours, and out-of-house students can also take classes, for a small additional fee.

Mather also features a wood-turning studio, where students can shape bowls and vases on a lathe. Instructor Alan Hark (harvardwoodturning@yahoo.com) frequently offers classes and demonstrations at $75 for Mather students and $100 for Harvard affiliates.

QUINCY HOUSE

For musicians in Quincy, viewing the frequent concerts in the Quincy Cage can provide inspiration, the comforting knowledge that perhaps you’re better than you thought, or just a balls-out rocking Thursday night. One of the best destinations for those searching out Harvard’s musical talent, the Quincy Collective-sponsored shows have included campus mainstays Chester French and Natural Progression.

An acoustic alternative is the Quincy Coffeehouse, founded and organized by Elizabeth W. Carlisle ’06 (carlisle@fas.harvard.edu), which features all the soulful strumming one could desire, most of it original songs by Harvard students. For those who have forsaken all instrumentation there is the newly-formed a cappella group Q-Choir which welcomes new members (contact tutor Sarah E. Burges-Watson at burges@fas.harvard.edu).

Deep in the bowels of New Quincy are two visual art centers—the pottery studio and darkroom. Quincy’s pottery studio offers weekly classes with ceramist Holly Neufer for a fee of $50 per semester (contact Larry J. Peterson at lpeters@fas.harvard.edu). Unlimited access to the darkroom is available for $25. All Quincy residents are welcome to show any artistic creations during Arts First in an exhibit in the JCR (contact tutor Matthew H. McIntyre at mmcintyr@fas.harvard.edu).

WINTHROP HOUSE

The vastly underappreciated Winthrop’s Painting Studio, located in the basement of E entryway, opens its doors for four hours every Saturday afternoon. Enrolled students are provided with keys to access the studio after class hours, and are given full reign of the paints, brushes, palettes, and easels, but must bring their own canvases). The studio directors, resident arts tutors Zoe McKiness (mckiness@fas.harvard.edu) and Heather Smith (hsmith@fas.harvard.edu), are always on the prowl for new aspiring artists from all houses.

Just next door in the D entryway basement, Winthrop also features a dark room where all of the necessary equipment and chemicals are provided. Hopeful photographers need only bring their own paper and film, as well as a key purchased for $5 from Karen J. Reiber (kreiber@fas.harvard.edu).

For budding musicians, Winthrop boasts two formal rehearsal spaces, the Junior Common Room and the Tonkens Room, each with its own Steinway Grand Piano. Both rooms are openly accessible and flanked by a smaller practice room. Keys are available in the Superintendent’s office.