Each year the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts hosts artists at ETSU. Since the beginning, it was evident that the university needed to schedule programs that would be beneficial to campus.
“It was clear we needed an avenue to schedule programs that would impact curriculum, foster conversations across disciplines, address campus-wide concern,” said Anita DeAngelis, director of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts. “We spend a lot of time talking with faculty to determine our schedule.”
While the Martin School has the final say on what artists are brought to campus, they keep the school, students, faculty and current events in mind.
For the Fall semester, they will be hosting their Independent Filmmakers series, which has been successful in the past. The Martin School not only brings these events to campus for free, they also bring the filmmaker in for the viewing and a question-answer session.
Beginning Sept. 12, the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers runs until later November.
Along with the films, the Martin School also hosts lectures, literature reading, dance symposiums and more. Many of the events hosted are free, but sometimes, due to the artist, ticket prices can range from $5 for students to $20 for the public.
While many events are still being finalized, there are some events that are already on next fall’s calendar. In September, Kate Geis will be at ETSU showcasing her dance documentary film “Paul Taylor: Creative Domain.” October will bring Julie Fowlis, who will be presenting the Music of the Scottish Isles. Fowlis is a multi-award winning Gaelic singer.
The Southern Arts Circuit is bringing at least three films and filmmakers to ETSU during the upcoming semester.
Unlike some other colleges, ETSU continues to fund the arts, which has proven beneficial for students. The university uses the arts as a way to educate students on difficult issues, and it allows campus to flourish in a way it would not have the chance to do without.
“By experiencing the arts, we often learn things in a much deeper way through more direct communications,” DeAngelis said. “We scheduled an artist named Mike Wiley last year to perform a play about Emmett Till, an African-American teenager who was lynched after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Through different characters in the play, we experienced what happened in 1955 surrounding Till’s death. We learned a lot about an ugly time in our history, and I hoped we gained insights we can apply today.”
To learn more about the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts and to see the finalized schedule, visit www.etsu.edu/martin.
