On March 30, the Brown Arts Initiative announced the roll-out of a new “Bring Art In” initiative, which hopes to further the BAI’s mission of fostering creative expression and art across and between interdisciplinary faculty and students.
The “Bring Art In” initiative will provide student and faculty creators the opportunity to partner directly with the organization in order to develop collaborative works, and will provide supplemental funds to facilitate the entirety of that process. The purpose of this new initiative remains separate from the BAI’s pre-existing and ongoing Student Grant Program, which directly allocates funds to student artists every semester, and other existing grant programs. This initiative is not a replacement of any currently offered grants, but rather a separate resource.
The BAI has been known for grant support since the establishment of its predecessor, the Creative Arts Council. While these grants continue to be foundational for “research, public presentations and visiting artists,” the new opportunities presented by “Bring Art In” will facilitate works that more directly and intimately collaborate with the BAI in terms of both space and production. The initiative aims to garner a wider range of opportunities for students and faculty specifically working “in collaboration, working with socially and community-engaged projects, working with public and art in social spaces (and) working with large ambitious ideas,” according to BAI Director of Programming and Operations Chira DelSesto.
Eligible participants will be provided greater access to “the technical capabilities of Granoff” and can apply for “a suite of grants that enhance student ability to invite artists to campus (and) curate conversations.” They will also be offered assistance in producing projects that extend beyond the traditional fall and spring semesters, such as graduation productions and residencies.
The initiative was brought to fruition by DelSesto and BAI Director Thalia Field. “As the BAI engaged in our budget-planning process for next year… (we) took a hard look at what the BAI has been doing and made a conscious choice to reallocate some resources to encourage more artmaking,” DelSesto expressed.
While the conceptualization of the initial stages of the initiative began long before the escalation of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Field and DelSesto hope that its launch can provide hope, comfort and anticipation “for a time when we are all together again on campus.”
The BAI has also taken further measures to offer support to the Brown community in response to COVID-19. Its new website — BAI@Home — launched last Thursday and will serve as a digital hub to keep students and faculty connected amid a new remote lifestyle. The website provides access to previous content, art resources, interactive creative projects and both live and recorded events.
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