High Art...for the People!

Harvard polymath, Marjorie Garber, has an interesting article in the Ideas section of today's Boston Globe. In it, Garber made a considered and persuasive argument for universities to step up and become patrons of the arts. In this visual age, the visual arts need more representation in our colleges through the development of academic programs, artists in residence, and the general display of visual arts across our campuses. In other words, Garber calls for our univeristies to court artists much in the same way that they currently court physicists, biologists, political scientists and mathematicians.

She may very well be right on this point, and I'm in general agreement with her. I was particularly keen on her statement of current partnerships with other colleges. As Garber states, "Increasingly, universities and colleges have developed partnerships with conservatory programs, as both Tufts and Harvard have done with the New England Conservatory of Music, offering programs that combine dedicated training in the arts with some elements of a broad general education. While terrific for those students who choose them, in effect these programs still outsource advanced work in the arts, rather than integrating it into the central life of the university." Partnerships, however, can go further than this. If universities like Harvard and Tufts move forward and become full-fledged patrons of the arts, why couldn't they then turn arouond and establish partnerships with the state's community colleges?

Harvard would be well served by granting community college students access to their patronage by providing these students with an opportunity to view the sculpture displays, or attend a lecture given by Pedro Almodovar. Many community colleges have art programs. Partnering with institutions like Harvard with give our students to expand their base of knowledge, and let a little more light into their lives.