COLUMN: Real learning from the arts

From Miranda Salomon's, "Notes From the Lilypad," Fall '96 From Miranda Salomon's, "Notes From the Lilypad," Fall '96 Though it pains me to admit it, performing arts is a second-tier activity at Penn. Compare the arts to, say, athletics, and you'll find that not only does the University support our competitive teams financially and academically, but there are plans underway for a new athletic facility that will cost $2.2 million. While we have been promised that the to-be-built Perelman Quad will end to the space crunch, the years before its completion will be lean for theater, dance and music groups. Irvine Auditorium, Houston Hall and the Annenberg School Theater will all be unavailable in the near future, and the University has not found an appropriate alternative for the groups that depend on those spaces. Campus dance, music and theater groups get such little notice because students and administrators believe the arts are impractical. Like it or not (and I don't), Penn is a strongly pre-professional school. The number of pre-meds, pre-laws and pre-investment bankers greatly outweighs the number of people who simply want to learn as much as they can. The stereotypical starving artist , who refuses to worry about the value of his knowledge on the open market, has no place at Penn. Therefore, plans that would ease the plight of artists are ignored, in favor of a new science center and a new home for the Wharton School. In truth, though, many organizations represented by the Performing Arts Council do provide students with practical, real-world experience. Producing a public performance involves marketing and management skills like those taught in some University classrooms. But artists are actually doing what the Whartonites are learning. Take Quaker Notes, Penn's all-female a cappella group, for example. I have been in the group since my freshman year, and I have had the opportunity to be involved in almost every aspect of the group's existence -- arranging music, fund-raising, selling advertising, arranging performances, setting up road trips and making a recording. Working closely with 13 others on a day-to-day basis is the essence of teamwork, especially when there are close friendships and performers' egos involved. A cappella groups at Penn don't receive SAC money, so our budget is totally dependent on ticket sales and paid performances. My group creates and markets our product from start to finish, and when we have our Fall Show this Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Dunlop Auditorium, we can only hope our hard work will pay off. Some students are already putting their experience with performing arts ensembles to work in the business world. For example, the Wharton junior who happens to be chairperson of Intuitons experimental theater told me one of his class projects this semester is test-marketing advertisements. He chose advertising for his theater group as the focus of his project -- and unlike his classmates' results, his findings will translate into an actual ad campaign. Another example is Wharton's first-year Management 100 classes, which were required to raise money and/or awareness of worthy charities. Many of these groups chose to stage benefit concerts with Penn performing arts groups, and their group projects -- which included every aspect of staging a show -- will translate into Wharton credit. In addition to providing hands-on business and arts experience, the presence of a strong performing community at Penn gives students an alternative to the bar and party scene. Theoretically, we are here to become educated, well-rounded adults. That should include some knowledge of music, dance, theater and popular culture. Why shouldn't we have these opportunities right on campus? The combination of funding cuts and a lack of University commitment has put the performing arts community in a precarious position. But the performing arts have a profound effect on the undergraduate education of about 10 percent of Penn students -- and that's not even counting the students whose sole involvement is being members of the audience. The University should treat us and our projects at least as seriously as it treats other extra-curricular activities, like the athletics program. Just as administrators wouldn't close Franklin Field without first finding another home for our teams, the University must not shut down performing space in the name of "renovation" without providing a workable substitute.