Spring Innovation Seed Grants Support 5 CFA Student Projects
After successfully piloting a seed grant program between Innovate@BU and the College of Fine Arts during the fall 2019 semester, five new seed grants have been awarded this spring to students developing creative projects and performances that include a social impact component. Learn more about the five supported projects below.
Training Materials for Creative Community Projects
“[As artists], we spend so much time practicing our craft that we forget to look around and see the type of impact we have–or don’t have!–on the community” said Heather Havens (CFA’20). “Being innovative means being willing to look at our craft in new ways that go outside of the College of Fine Arts and into the lives of those surrounding us.”
This summer, project partners Heather Havens and Anna Harris (CFA’20) will use their seed grant to develop training materials for music students interested in developing community-based projects.
Haven says the pair will “work with a mentor over the Summer to develop a mission, vision, and action plan for our Residency at the Medical Center next year.” Ultimately, they will use this knowledge to host a workshop for fellow student musicians who are “looking to engage in the community and think in entrepreneurial ways.”
Next year, Havens and Harris will continue to use these tools when they begin a residency at Boston Medical Center by using music as a “source of healing, connection, and spirit by bringing classical instruments to spaces that, while unexpected, may benefit the most from live music, ” said Havens.
Sense of Space Theatrical Project
Led by Corianna Moffatt (MFA’19), Sense of Space is a theatrical project that creates a conversation with actors and people within public spaces at the Boston Medical Center.
Moffatt said that the seed grant allowed them “to buy supplies for our interactive artistic projects and to pay the local artists that worked with us as we developed our performances for Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston Health Care for the Homeless (BHCHP).”
“For example, we were able to buy a Polaroid camera which we handed to people at BHCHP, inviting them to take photos of things that inspired them. They had the choice to keep the photos or leave them with us for an exhibition, which took place in March. Most people wanted photos with their friends or of themselves to give to loved ones, a beautiful reminder of the inspiration we can find in one another,” said Moffatt.
Sense of Space has opened the door for students in the School of Theatre to explore the possibilities and benefits of creating art in conversation with Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston Health Care for the Homeless (BHCHP) through Arts | Lab at the Med Campus. Moffatt said she hopes that “Sense of Space can live on, uniting students with the wisdom of these vibrant and challenging spaces at BMC and BHCHP.”
Team members include: Tramaine Bembury (CFA ‘20), Ashby Gentry (CFA ‘21), Matan Horowitz (CFA ‘21), Isabella Lampson (CFA ‘21), Arinze Okwuosah (CFA ‘21), Sam Orlov (CFA ‘21), Schuyler Pallo-Ross (CFA ‘21), Oreine Denice Robinson (CFA ‘19), Michael Rosegrant (CFA ‘21), and Alexander Tuchi (COM ‘21). Special thanks to Moisès Fernández Via, Founding Director of Arts | Lab (CFA ‘11).
STAMP Thesis Performances at the Booth Theatre: Earth is Red and Something Else: A Love Cycle
Earth is Red
Earth is Red is the first STAMP thesis to premiere in the Booth Theatre and the first of its kind. Placing a large emphasis on design and production, installation, and performance art, the project is an immersive experience that tackles one’s definition of identity.
“As an artist, innovation means sharing creative agency within a community. Art can have such a precious and untouchable connotation in many mediums when being observed from the outside, and to innovate is to augment this relationship, and let one’s participation in a work give them ownership of their experience and growth,” said Sean Perreira (CFA’19).
The team behind STAMP used the grant to “get down to more detail and achieve greater complexities in our technical endeavors, such as focused sound design, specific interactive materials for installation pieces, and unified costume.”
The performance debuted in March 2019, but the team hopes to remount the project as a pop-up gallery experience with a greater emphasis on dance, participation, and design.
The team includes Grace Hill (CFA’19), Sean Perreira (CFA’19), Hannah Solomon (CFA’19), Becca Sundberg (CFA’19), and Claudia Watanabe (CFA’19).
Something Else: A Love Cycle
To the student team behind the musical, “innovation means implementing action to actualize inclusion, both in whose stories are being told, and who is able to be a part of the experience. It means making sure we commit to being truthful and practice sustainable ways of artmaking.” And they’re doing just that with their original musical including themes of queer, multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural stories.
Sarah Shin (CFA’19) said that the seed grant will make it possible to “record our original music and make CDs in addition to supporting our technological needs, and connect with Zumix, a non-profit dedicated to empowering young artists through music.”
The team has been working on the project since September 2018 and will debut the show on May 5, 7, and 8. Beyond their BU performances, the group plans to submit the show to theatre festivals across the country.
“During the process, we avoided seeking an agenda or making a socio-political statement, but wanted to create an experience that allowed us to exist as our full, authentic selves; with a theatre canon that has centered most stories on cis-gender straight white men, our work naturally breaks the norm,” said Shin. “Since our musical is a series of vignettes, we’ve played around with the idea that some of these scenes could have their own full show, so that would be exciting to explore. It is important to us that we don’t lose the connection we have as collaborators and keep making art that we enjoy as we navigate life after graduation.
The team includes:
- Jack Lavey (CFA’19) (Book, Lyrics, Costume Designer, Performer)
- Sarah Hirsch(CFA’19) (Book, Lyrics, Co-Scenic Designer, Performer)
- Erica Huang(CFA’19) (Music, Lyrics, Choreographer, Music Director, Performer)
- Madison Lusby(CFA’19) (Community Outreach)
- Jordana Roet (CFA’22) (Stage Manager)
- Sam Mastrati(CFA’22) (Co-Scenic Designer)
- Aria Pegg(CFA’22)(Props Designer)
- Matt Robson(CFA’22) (Lighting Designer)
- Conrad Sundqvist-Olmos (CFA’19) (Performer)
- Jem Oshins (CFA’19) (Performer)
- Naomi Li (CFA’22) (Stagecrafter)
In the Time of the Butterflies
Led by Mariana Mondragon (BFA Theatre) and Chloe Siegman (BFA Theatre), a grant also supported a production of the play In the Time of Butterflies, based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters standing up against the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic (1930-1960). The play will be performed May 5, 6, and 8.
