President Bollinger showed remarkable vision and leadership in creating the Arts Initiative, or CUArts, in his first years as president. His support allowed CUArts to succeed in its goal: bringing the arts into the lives of every Columbian. This connection to the city and the resources of New York rightly became central to the way Columbia markets itself to potential students. However, the perfect storm of the move in 2009 to the School of the Arts, the budget cuts the University faced in the financial crisis, and the appointment of a director to two full time positions, has led to a decline in the programming of the Arts Initiative.
CUArts has been forced to take at least a 40% budget cut in two years. The staff has contracted from nine full time staff and twenty student employees to three full time staff, one vacancy, and a part time director. Three major museums (The Whitney, Frick, and Guggenheim) have left Passport to Columbia. The annual reports that spoke candidly as to the successes and shortcomings of the program have stopped being issued. NSOP no longer hosts events, such as the private parties at the Met and MoMA. Commencement Carnival, a program that helped bridge the gap between involvement as a student and involvement as an alum, has been canceled.
ArtsLink, the program through which professors can assign tickets to their classes, has a sparse menu of events, and the minimum number of students in the class is twenty, which excludes most seminars. TIC hours have been cut, and ticket discounts at the TIC have gotten less steep, and while ticket prices have risen generally in the city, nothing has been done to maintain the 20 to 25 dollar average prices that once characterized TIC offerings. CUArts Global is effectively defunct, after 37 events in two years, including sending the jazz ensemble to Beijing.
Gatsby grants, which fund student art projects on campus, gave out $70,314 in 2008, giving an average of 890 dollars for each recipient. By 2011, this has fallen to $47,301 total, a 43% decrease, with an average of 509 dollars. The website is no longer continually updated and has stopped being a central resource for Columbians interested in the arts, and often lists information years out of date as if it were current. For everything that is being cut, there is no new programming being created to replace it.
The position of the Director of the Arts Initiative is a full time one, and no one could have inherited the current dual role (with Miller Theater) and kept CUArts functioning at the same level it had at its height. It is a program built entirely on open conversation and connection, and attention to maintaining relationships across various schools and departments, as well as cultural institutions in the city. This necessitates the full time attention of its Director, as well as enough support staff to keep its programs successful and thriving.
In light of the above evidence, we call for the following reforms:
- 1. A move out of the School of the Arts to an administrative home that reflects CUArts’ mission of serving all students, faculty, and staff.
- 2. Increased funding from the Office of the President, and the restoration of the budget that CUArts prospered under for years.
- 3. The appointment, with student input, of a new director whose sole job is Director of the Arts Initiative, who will have their full time to devote to the continued success of the program.
- 4. The creation of an advisory committee that institutionalizes the student, faculty, and staff input that was formerly the hallmark of the program.
- 5. Reinstatement of the generous subsidy for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative to perform in Miller Theater, which gives them the ability to use the one space on campus they can perform in.
We appreciate the financial constraints of the University. However, given how much the Arts Initiative was able to accomplish on a comparatively small budget, and the breadth of the audience it serves, we believe that President Bollinger needs to reaffirm his commitment to the arts being a part of the lives of every member of Columbia’s community.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
The arts initiative allows us ALL to go to the Met and Moma for free, for art history classes, or just for fun!
The Arts Initiative is crucial for the Core Curriculum.
My daughter is currently a Junior at Columbia and has danced every year with Columbia Ballet Collaborative. In fact, the existence of CBC was a huge draw for her to apply for and choose Columbia. She was torn between choosing an MBA program with Lines Ballet in San Francisco and the more academic route of Columbia University because dance is hugely important in her life. We believe that because of her passion and commitment to dance she was accepted to Columbia in addition to her good grades. We expect Columbia to uphold its standing in the arts, especially since that was the understanding when we signed up for four years. We are sacrificing in order to be able to afford her education and we are distraught at the funding cuts made to CUArts! We just made a trip to NYC to see the CBC November performance at MMA instead of the Miller Theater. Unbelievable that Columbia won’t even give theater space to their students – that is shameful.
The Arts Initiative helped my English class see an amazing play that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Please help save such an essential program!
Although I am an engineering student, I consider myself a very ‘artsy’ person. I love music, dance, artwork, and any other artistic outlet. What I love about Columbia is that all students are given access to many such artistic outlets, regardless of what they’re studying. My science and math classes are great, but I need some museum visits and musicals once in a while to keep myself sane! This school wouldn’t be the same without the CU Arts initiative and the cultural experiences it offers for its students.
The Arts Initiative helps everyone on campus no matter the major or school affiliation. KEEP THIS
The very fabric of Columbia College’s core curriculum is undermined when students have reduced access to music and art opportunities.
I have benefited tremendously from the arts initiative over my 3 years and would be sad to see my little brother who is a freshman not able to receive those same wonderful, cultural benefits during his time at Columbia.
I came to Columbia because of the amazing opportunities offered within the arts for all students. The Arts Initiative is a huge part of what makes Columbia so amazing and allows us to truly experience the city and use it to further our education. Cutting this program would be extremely disappointing and would take away the reason why I came here in the first place.
If the free museums are cut, the entire Art Humanities course will suffer. We are very lucky to be able to teach and learn about art with this city’s vast resources, but it would be a complete shame if we were not able to actually employ those resources.
Save CUarts!
If it wasn’t for CUArts, I would probably not be working in a museum myself. As an Art History student, it would’ve made writing papers and really fully understanding the art much more difficult for someone who is already paying so much to this school. It was obviously integral to my education, but I also think about friends who were Econ or Physics majors and took advantage of the program as well, as a way to really integrate themselves into this city and its art.
As a recent transfer student one of the main impetuses behind the decision to come to this school was the immersion and direct communication available with the arts in New York City. The Columbia University Arts Initiative has opened doors for this exchange, and is a vital part of our greater community. Please save it!
why is this being cut?!
The Arts Initiative is a huge asset for the Columbia community. I have been to countless plays and museums because of it. Save it!
because our Columbia education should go beyond what we find in lecture halls
The Arts Initiative has been my source of de-stressing and staying in balance in this crazy city! Staying in balanced has enriched my life, my extracurricular activities provide me with conversation pieces with people I meet for the first time, both at work, networking events, and at school, and helps me be a well-rounded, interesting person. I highly recommend the support for the Arts Initiative.
The arts initiative is so valuable! To connect Columbia with the arts hub of New York.
exploring and appreciating the arts with my friends, outside of class
SAVE IT.
This program has been one of the highlights of my Columbia experience. I have utilized it as much as possible and hugely appreciate the opportunities that it gives to students. Any cut whatsoever would be an enormous shame in my mind.
CU Arts is the primary route by which I have managed to escape the MoHi bubble and engage with the city in my time here – the Columbia experience would be seriously impoverished without it.
I was able to remain in a class I needed to fulfill an art requirement by being able to purchase discounted tickets to the dance performances necessary (World Dance History course at Barnard). Without it, I would have been forced to drop the class and start over.
My suitemate is part of the CBC and it’s ridiculous that such a wonderful organization is unable to perform in Miller theatre. Get your act together Columbia!!
Columbia Arts Initiative has produced some marvellous work and appears to function very well – are there not other areas in which more significant savings can be made at less cost?
Being able to engage with the arts without the monetary caveat has taught me so much at Columbia..please don’t take that away!
Who visits New York without visiting it’s famous museums? The CU Arts Initiative gives students the opportunity to experience New York City at a lesser cost.
Columbia wouldn’t be complete without the Arts Initiative!
When I applied to Columbia, one of the reasons I loved it so much was because of the access to the arts it provided. Being in New York City is fantastic, but on a student budget there are a lot of things I would never have gotten to attend. Columbia prides itself on having culturally aware and curious students, and the Arts Initiative is vital to our cultural education by making the vast resources of the arts capital of the world available to us.
As an engineer, I am still enthralled by the entirely different perspective that the arts bring to my life.
I dance with Raw Elementz and use the TIC all the time!
CUArts was one of the things that attracted me to our university in the first place. This program really allows me and other students to explore the city and its arts during our time here. CUArts is especially valuable for students who are not from NYC and/or previously did not have the opportunity to participate in the arts.
Columbia University in the City of New York does not live up to its name without a fully functioning Arts Initiative. Experiencing culture in New York City is an integral part of a Columbia education. All students should have access to it, during NSOP, in their classes, in their clubs, and on their own time. Only the Arts Initiative can ensure this equal access.
As Vice President of the Columbia University Glee Club, I worked closely and frequently with the Arts Initiative. Their funding allowed us to revive a club that had gone into decline, but had a strong and proud tradition at Columbia since 1873. Thanks to the Arts Initiative, the Glee Club is now thriving. This is only one example of what the Arts Initiative can do, and will not be able to do if the current state of affairs continues. I urge the University to reallocate funding to restore strong access to the arts for all Columbia Students.
It has made my life at Columbia more colorful.
I am an engineer. Without the Arts Initiative, my experience at a predominantly ‘liberal arts’ school would have been severely undercut. I applied to Columbia University precisely because of its efforts to provide a holistic education to its students: through the breadth of the Core, through the rigors of Science, and through the appreciation of Art.
Engineering school has taught me science and the Arts Initiative has fostered my appreciation of art. Without a strong arts program (complete with incentives like discounted tickets, regular emails about art events in the City, etc.), the Columbia curriculum might relapse into a one-sided, single-minded education.
The Arts Initiative has made New York City arts accessible to me in an otherwise way-too-busy-to-go-out-of-my-way-and-scout-for-cheap-tickets-elsewhere manner! If Columbia prides itself in offering its students the best of both worlds, the great city of New York and a wonderful campus life, the arts of New York should also be readily accessible via the Arts Initiative.
My dance group Sabor has long benefited from this initiative and it has always helped us financially to make our visions come to life. Let us save it and allow it to continue to give more groups the opportunity to showcase their talents!
CU Arts has helped shape my education. Save CU Arts!
Jennifer Piperno
Since coming to campus this year, the arts initiative has motivated me as a freshman to get out and explore the city. New York City can sometimes seem like an overwhelming place; when you’re not sure where to begin, you may stay here on campus in the Columbia bubble instead of taking advantage of the culture just outside. Please continue to fund this program to help students take advantage of one of the best parts of the Columbia experience.
Save CU Arts!
I support this effort to save the Columbia Arts Initiative.
Basically, learning more about art through this program gives me great joy.
The Arts impact communities and individuals on such a level that may not be as measurable as other things, but is just as impactful, if not more so. Saving the Arts for some is like saving their sanity. Art is not just something fun to do, something to look at, something neat and cool and stuff that some people do, it is breath. It is life, it is living, it is death, it is dying. It is all, and it is in everything. Nothing is separate from Art. To take away Art would not be to “cut the fat” or take away something extraneous, it would be to cut away a part of life, and leave it bleeding. Art is resilient, and people would find a way, but it would not lack heartbreak, injury, and that time of blood loss. Keep CU Arts. I won’t say keep it alive, because I don’t think it could truly die… but facilitate this beautiful concentration of Art, and let it grow and blossom the wonderful human beings who so love this space. Life is Art, Art is Life.
An important part of our Columbia identity.
This shouldn’t be an argument.
It is disappointing to learn the state of CU Arts. At a world class educational institution, in a city known for its architecture, museums and theater, it is hard to understand why this program has been allowed to deteriorate.
I’m an ex-professional ballet dancer and now a writer. Cutting off funding to the arts is like blood-letting our youth and silencing the very important voices of our times. Please consider the wealth of meaning, the potential of humanity, that can be found in the arts. Without art, what are we left with that can so move and inspire us to right action?
Thank you.
The Arts Initiative needs to continue to exist so that Columbia can continue to produce the well-rounded students it prides itself on.
I love the arts!!!
Save the Arts Initiative!
One of the things that first made me interested in Barnard was its access to Passport to Columbia. The arts are so important to many of the students that go here. Giving students an opportunity to explore such a huge aspect of New York culture makes Columbia University a institution of New York. Cutting back on CUArts disadvantages the artists, dancers, musicians, and actors here as well as every other student.
The amazing arts initiatives at Columbia University changed my life as a student at Barnard College. As a graduate, I am an active artist in New York City and am so aware of all the city has to offer because of the programs provided by CUArts. I beg you to keep this program strong for current students and for the future of the world.
Save CU Arts!
The arts initiative is one of those rare and wonderful things at Columbia that unites the whole campus. It’s saddening to see it diminished. Let’s work towards reinstating its full budget, installing an independent director, and more importantly reinvigorating it as a uniquely wonderful feature of Columbia.
-David Fine
Chair, Student Governing Board of Columbia University
The arts initiative was a critical part of my time at Columbia- while it is unreasonable to expect the met to shut down for a students night out each year, it’s really important to keep cu arts not only alive, but thriving! My time at Columbia wouldn’t have been the same without it.
It would be tragedy for Columbia University, which prides itself on the Core, to reduce/lose a program like CU Arts. This amazing program allows Columbians to pursue an active role in the artistic community. The university should look at re-energizing CU Arts.
The arts should be an essential part of every student’s life. Let’s save CU Arts!
I am a concerned parent. I believe that this initiative is critical for the future of Barnard and Columbia and for the education of their students.
One of the reasons my daughter chose Barnard/Columbia because of the institution’s engagement in the arts.
I am an aspiring professional musician, and CU Arts allows me wonderful opportunities to see the amazing performances that both New York City and Columbia has for reduced prices. It has done so much for me, and matters so much to so many students!
The CU Arts Initiative is an extraordinary resource that connects our university to the city in an inimitable way. It has been a crucial part of my experience at Columbia and it is of the utmost importance that we not only maintain but continue to improve this program.
Part of the reason I came here!
CU Arts has allowed me to experience Columbia and the city in a better way! It matters!
My time at Columbia has been all the more enhanced by the opportunity to be engaged in the cultural richness of the City. CUarts has made it possible for me to attend events with classmates that I would have otherwise not been able to afford.
If the funding is being transferred to another service on campus, then those details should be made known to constituents. Regardless, a new director with impeccable management skills should be put in place to lead the Initiative into long-lasting Arts partnerships.
I have spent two years at this school, and I still can’t say I love New York City. I feel disconnected from the city’s culture, although I know it is rich and there is so much opportunity for learning. If we restored the Arts Initiative to its original breadth, depth, quality, and vision, I feel I could finally start taking advantage of all this city of ours has to offer.
The CU Arts Initiative gave me the opportunity to see Broadway shows and visit museums that I would not have been able to afford.
Art matters.
The Arts Initiative has allowed me not only to express my own creativity, through printmaking, but also to appreciate the vast talents of my peers. I am constantly astounded my the artistic, theatrical, musical, and dance skills that my fellow students posses.
SAVE THE ARTS!
As a student on generous financial aid and little spending money for going out and experiencing the city, I have thoroughly benefited both culturally and academically from this outstanding program. More, it influenced my decision to apply to and attend school here. This is a resource that the university can’t afford to cut.
The Arts Initiative was one of THE reasons that I decided to attend Columbia. Without it, I would never have the means to reap the benefits that NY has to offer ALL STUDENTS.
Every kind of experience is at my fingertips when I log on to CUArts. A free day can turn into something exciting because of it: lectures, off broadway shows, ballet…the possibilities are limitless. CUArts lets me get to know New York in an easy and affordable way.
The Columbia University Arts Initiative is a visionary program and it is in the highest interest of our community to ensure that it has the resources it needs to continue enriching our lives with artistic and cultural outlets.
As the founder of http://www.arts4Grads.com and former Chair of the Arts Committee for the Graduate Student Advisory Council I have found CU Arts an extremely useful resource.
Let’s keep it alive and thriving!
Elina Kanellopoulou
Having opportunities to dance on campus has enriched my experience at Columbia.
The Arts Initiative is a major draw for applicants to Columbia University, and to allow such a landmark program to be downsized and to take advantage of students who pay tuition to obtain such privileges would be to ignore the interests of our undergraduates.
HELL NO, WE WON’T GO
The Arts Initiative spurred my curiosity in an area of study I never would have considered.
I am an Ancient Studies Major and a Dance Minor, so the use of New York City’s cultural offerings have been a significant part of my education. The variety of plays, musicals, ballets and other performances, both ancient and modern, have broadened my horizons and helped me love what I am learning. The ability to have the chance to see an opera about a greek myth I just finished reading or to go see the New York City Ballet after learning about Balanchine’s priceless contributions to ballet has been wonderful and is one of the reasons I came to Barnard. It would be unfair to future students to take away this amazing experience and would lover the cultural value of such events, which are already suffering.
Support the arts, support the Arts Initiative.
Save the arts!
New York is a cultural and artistic Mecca, and in order to get the full college experience and the full New York experience, arts are essential.
The Broadway shows, that free concert you find out you won tickets to right after finishing your last exam, the interesting art exhibit you never would’ve checked out if it hadn’t be free and advertised through TIC. It all contributes to that special experience we know as being a Columbian.
Neglecting CU Arts would be to neglect all that New York City’s arts and culture have to offer, and thus to deprive the student body of a significant piece of life in this city. The addition “In the City of New York” to Columbia’s name is there for a reason: immersion in New York City is an elemental part of any student’s experience at Columbia, and programs like CU Arts are what make sure that this connection happens.
To put it simply, my experience as an undergraduate would not have been the same without CUArts. It supported my desire to learn outside the classroom, allowing me to attend concerts, sporting events, and museums that I would have otherwise visited infrequently or not at all. I rubbed shoulders with luminaries at Lincoln Center and saw one of the final games in Shea Stadium thanks to tickets from the TIC center. Visiting the Met and the Noguchi Museum, in Long Island City, was so easy that those trips on the bus and the train became like extended visits to a distant library in Columbia’s orbit; my experience as a student in art history classes was immeasurably enriched by the access granted by the Arts Initiative sticker on my ID card. For all but one semester I was involved in the Columbia Review, our school’s (and the nation’s) oldest literary magazine, the publication of which would have been severely hampered by the recession were it not for the support of generous funding in the form of Gatsby grants. If the Arts Initiative is significantly diminished due to budget cuts, the strong sense of pride I take in being an alumnus of the Columbia arts community will be severely damaged.
Although I am a SEAS student, I have dedicated a significant portion of my time at Columbia to my dancing. I take ballet classes at Barnard, dance with and choreograph for Orchesis, and dance with Columbia Ballet Collaborative (CBC). CBC and Columbia’s other opportunities for dance were one of the main reasons I came to Columbia over another engineering school. It is upsetting for me to see firsthand how much these organizations, especially CBC, are now struggling. The dispute between Miller Theater and CBC is ridiculous and frustrating to witness. Columbia needs to recognize that its arts are one of the large factors drawing new students to the school, and without support those arts will not be able to continue in the way that they were intended to.
One of the great parts of attending a university in the middle of the most vibrant, culturally aware city in America is taking advantage of all the great art the city has to offer, which is overwhelming. At the same time, being a college student means living on a budget, shopping for bargains with the thirst and intent of a bloodhound, and going without in the name of pinching a penny. That being said, the CU Arts Initiative made is viable for us students to attend some of the greatest cultural events in the city for reasonable prices and made available an crucial aspect of New York City otherwise shut off to us. I have attended plays across the city as well as the Metropolitan Opera thanks to CU Arts. I know that without the initiative, Columbia stands to lose one of the most beloved and alluring aspects of its student life.
I’m an Art History Major. Every single Art History class I have taken at Columbia has had assignments that necessitated multiple trips to many of the Museums here in New York City. Without the Arts Initiative these trips would cost hundreds of dolors. Thus for the sake of the mine and other students education the Arts Initiative is a necessity.
The Arts Initiative has played an vital role in my education at Columbia. The access and services it provides are essential for a well rounded collegiate experience. If the school is creating the leaders of the future, in all aspects of society, then it is vital to instill a greater appreciation of the arts, and the Arts Initiative is the channel towards that goal.
The CU Arts Initiative makes me feel more at home in the city
“You’re going to Columbia? That’s so cool! I heard Columbia kids, like, own the city.”
That’s the college experience I dared hope for, and the one I might have still. Save the Arts, please.
As an artist and undergraduate student, the Arts Initiative is imperative to my experience at Columbia. Last year, I performed with Columbia Ballet Collaborative, saw 38 shows, and went to countless museums. It kills me that this program has seen a decline in the past few years. The Arts Initiative is one of the reasons I chose to come to Columbia and I would like to see it survive for my personal benefit as well as for classes to come.
The moment Columbia’s relationship with the arts dies, Columbia loses its right to really call itself Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia prides itself on that relationship – Columbia students come here with the expectation that they will be able to engage the knowledge they get in class with museums, theaters and concerts that celebrate this knowledge. So much of that education, of the Core, is grounded in the Arts. The end of the CUarts initiative is so beyond counterproductive for admissions as well, in that it would definitely dissuade people from coming here.
What else will spur students to leave the Morningside bubble and explore the infinite arts scene of the city, becoming more cultured and worldly citizens in the process? How else would I, a student bolstered by a large financial aid package, have been to afford attending Tony award-winning musicals, a magnetic performance of ‘Don Giovanni’, and a private party in the Met? By eliminating the Initiative, Columbia will further recede into itself, cutting ties with the larger New York community that enriches it. The University isn’t in Wooster, Ohio–it has to recognize that and engage in the magical, vibrant city that surrounds it. Columbia has already lost much of its character, including a rich radical tradition and a commitment to the undergraduate liberal arts education–don’t sacrifice CUArts as well.
The city’s arts and culture have become an integral part of my education.
CU Arts has made my first experiences in the city less stressful, and have broadened my interactions with other cultures in only TWO MONTHS. It’s a remarkable initiative that achieves results and has thousands of supporters and CU Arts stands to be one of the few agents in Columbia that gives each student an opportunity to embrace New York City. It’s integral to Columbia, and to each student’s ability to gain personal enrichment from New York City. It is difficult times like these where values are tested, and real strength is seen. This is not the time to waiver on the our values. Save CU Arts.
There’s no New York experience without the arts.
The Met party was my favorite part of Orientation week (maybe the only part I actually did look forward to, in fact) and visiting the various museums was a BIG highlight of my time at Barnard. I worked with the Arts Initiative as a director and producer and also purchased tickets there throughout college — it would be a HUGE shame to let this program fall to the wayside. I want all future students to have the same wonderful opportunities that I did to enrich their time in Morningside, getting them out of the neighborhood and into the CITY!
Visits to museums were crucial to my art history, classics and history courses! I hope all future Columbians are able to take advantage of prized NY institutions without dipping into their personal savings all the time.
Having only been here for about two months, I have yet to take full advantage of all the opportunities that CUArts affords me. One of the things that drew me to COlumbia in the first place was the connection to New York City. We have the city and all it has to offer at our finger tips. We should have the opportunity to take advantage of this. I have already been able to visit some museums and look forward to more, as well as the shows I will be able to see.
“Get smart, make art!” -Fred Babb
The Arts Initiative at Columbia has created incredible experiences for me – going to the opera and visiting the Met with my LitHum professor. I don’t know how you could imagine cutting it.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
I use this resource by attending these sessions. These figure drawing sessions enrich my mind and increase my productivity. The exercise of observing and creating is indispensable in my life. As a biomedical science PhD student, I think about logic, reason, and planning for my experiments. Creative thought enriches my work by expanding my thinking.
Without this funding, I could never afford to attend art classes, and my schedule does not allow me to take a semester long full credit art class (nor would my PI agree to it).
Please preserve this funding.
CU Arts helps everyone get out the “Columbia Bubble” with their events!
I take advantage of many of the opportunities in NY for art culture. Visual arts major who thinks the world would be much more intelligent with the constant exploration of thinking through artistic mediums. It allows us to be culturally sensitive and open minded about universal themes.
I support this wholeheartedly!!!
I’m realizing now that The Arts Initiative has effected my short time at the University in more ways than I originally thought. From free museum admission to cheap broadway tickets, I have learned what it means to be a patron of the arts with the help of the Initiative. It was certainly a draw for me when applying to college and I would be disappointed, to say the very least, to see it disappear. Also, as a student performer, the opportunities a full menu of programming would offer to those students who may not be music majors but still have creative projects they want to pursue are vital to our campus community. If The Arts Initiative continues to falter, it will read as a disregard for a hugely important sector of the CU community that undoubtedly deserves the full support of an administrative office and corresponding programming. Bring it back!
When I made the decision to come to Columbia, the Arts Initiative was the main program that made me believe Columbia would put in a solid effort to make sure that my time here in the city of dreams would include as many opportunities and experiences as possible. After a first year of whirlwind museum visits, opera shows, and stories from friends on the best of music and arts in New York (and therefore a good chunk of the world), I read the Arts Initiative newsletter religiously. Since then, I have been seeing a decrease in opportunities and programming that I was once so interested in, and urge Columbia to serve not only its students in including its biggest constituents of the Arts Initiative — students, alumni, faculty, and staff — in the decisions that will make it what it is.
It has made it easier to take full advantage of New York City and has inspired me to take cultural outings.
A big reason why I came here to study in New York was so I could have the opportunity to experience the arts in a way that I couldn’t back home in the Midwest. CUArts helped me to be able to afford cultural opportunities that I wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
The connection between learning in the classroom, New York City and an incredibly rich artistic community is definitely part of why I love Columbia. CUArts keeps that connection vital, making it possible for us as students to continuously experience the arts outside of a university classroom. We are so proud of the Core at Columbia, and part of that incredible experience is being able to watch an opera live for music hum or wander in the sculpture atrium at the met for art hum. If anything we should to expand those experiences and not diminish them.
As a senior in CC who has spent the past three summers in NYC, I have often taken advantage of the free admission to museums. I hate seeing the number of options (especially the Guggenheim!) dwindle. Let’s reverse this trend.
I discovered the city thanks to CU Arts. Such an important part of my Columbia education.
The Arts Initiative allowed me to really discover the true artistic capital of the world. Taking away the Arts Initiative from Columbia is akin to denying sight to the blind.
As an art history major, I used the “passport” to local museums constantly – it was a huge benefit to my early training as an art historian.
CU Arts!
As I was strolling downtown with my floormates tonight, I suddenly became nostalgic. Just a year ago, I was at the same location, Gershwin Theatre, for my first broadway show Wicked. Wicked was my first and favorite musical and I would not be able to see the show if it were for “Art Initiative” programs to give discounts to students. Finally at Columbia, I hope to continue my downtown-broadway excursions and reexperience the same impact Wicked had on me last year. And without the efforts of the Arts Initiative, I would be unable to. Please continue the Arts Initiative!!
CU Arts has defined my experience at Columbia.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science and all things engineering, but was not deterred since I knew that in attending school at Columbia in New York City I would be exposed to the cultural blend that is New York. The Arts Initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia. I need the ballets, the Broadway shows, the music, the theatre, the art, the MoMa, the Guggenheim, NYCB, The Lion King. I know that my friends attending Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show, things in our neighborhood, merely blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development at Columbia as students and as people.
I LOVE CU ARTS
CU Arts is an absolutely essential part of every Columbia student’s experience! It contributes to general student wellness while also stimulating intellectual growth and fostering a sense of community and connection to the City we live in. No more budget cuts!!!
The Arts Initiative gives Columbia students the incredible opportunity to really appreciate and experience the vibrant culture of NYC. The Gatsby Fund helps us create an artistic culture on campus.
I had many priceless opportunities to benefit the NYC art scene by CU Arts initiative through their events and offers. I would strongly urge that their funding or staff not be compromised and being an art initiative they get their due respect and recognition and their efforts be supported in every way possible.
CUArts was one of the main reasons I came to Columbia. Don’t take it away!
Save the arts!
This program has allowed me to experience all that NYC has to offer. It’s so hard to get off campus with everything we have going on, but CUArts gives us the push to get off campus.
I <3 CUArts!
Art is an expression not an expense.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
CU Arts Initiative has provided me a forum to meet other artists, free (or close to free) classes in art, and places to exhibit my work. Save the CU Arts Initiative!
Through the Arts Initiative, I was able to see my first ever broadway musical during my freshman year. I saw Lion King and had always wanted to see it growing up, but my family could never afford the tickets. In other words, despite having being born and raised in NYC, I was unable to truly partake in the rich and diverse art opportunities that NYC has to offer before enrolling at Columbia.
Save the arts!
I have attended performances I would not otherwise have been able to afford.
Don’t do it.
Art!
As a medical student at P&S, CUArts and Gatsby Grants made possible the figure drawing courses that I attend on a regular basis. As an outlet of artistic expression the course is a rare view of the human form not often appreciated on a medical campus.
This is a wonderful program – there has to be a way to keep it going.
Exploring New York’s museums, attending movies, and other events through CUArts have been some of the best out of classroom experiences I’ve had in my time here. To think that that might be lessened or not available to future students is disheartening. I urge an increase in funding to keep this invaluable program in place.
SAVE THE ARTS!
As an opera buff but a student on a tight budget, I didn’t know how I could continue watching live performance now that I was in college. However, I got incredible discounts thanks to the CU Arts funding. So much of my intellectual/artistic development wouldn’t have been possible without it ! Do not get rid of it! For the sake of having well rounded, cultivated students!
CUArts is an integral part of student life here at Columbia, especially since we are located at one of the biggest major art hubs in the world. SAVE CUARTS!!
This is such a great source!! Please continue to let us explore NYC!
I have been a photographer for seven years. CUArts provides me the direct way to approach my ultimate dream of being an studio artist for life.
CUArts is a fantastic program and truly enriched my time at the University. Frankly, I am SHOCKED that CUArts is on the chopping block; of all of the places to cut, this is NOT the one. The University’s visual art program is already embarrassingly petite, the student demand greatly exceeding the course supply, and it is unacceptable for the University to threaten such a brilliant arts outlet that can be accessed by all. The Passport alone is a HUGE draw for prospective students and it would be a grave oversight by the University to clip it.
The Arts are a bigger part of my life as I am a member of a dance team on campus. The Arts Initiative is a great way to support dancers and artists and enrich our own lives and it would be a shame to diminish it. So many people benefit from these great offers and it is truly a part of the Columbia experience.
SAVE CUARTS!!
As a person who is terrible at creating arts, Arts Initiative gives me a chance to experience it in a special way.
I just don’t understand how this school continually asks the students and alumni to give money, but cannot seem to maintain a program that directly benefits students.
I love CUArts!!!
Save CUArts!! It allows us to culturally immerse ourselves and to expose ourselves to the beauty of art of NYC.
It’s important!!!!!!!!!
CUArts has been great for my time at Columbia! We can’t lose it.
The arts are an integral part of the University experience. Save CUArts!
The arts provide a valuable way for students to participate in college life and experience the City. Without appropriate funding, students no longer have access to these opportunities. This detracts from the well rounded education which Columbia University prides itself on providing.
CUArts has greatly enriched my time at Columbia P&S, allowing me to see shows and museums throughout the city that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. My connections to classmates, colleagues, and patients have been strengthened by these experiences in arts and humanities, so I sincerely ask that arts funding, through Gatsby and other students, is increased and/or restored to it’s former levels.
I’m a huge opera and classical music fan, and the Arts initiative has been really useful in helping me get affordable tickets to operas and concerts. It has been one of the best things about Columbia.
As a SEAS student, I was aware that my courses would include a heavy focus on math and science, but was not deterred because I knew that in attending school at Columbia in NEw York City I would be exposed to other areas that include music, theater, art, and more. The arts initiative is what I need to round out my experience here at Columbia, to expose myself to ballets, to Broadway shows, to the MoMa, and more. I know my friends at Princeton currently pay less for a bus ride and tickets to see a Broadway show. These things are in our neighborhood, literally a couple of blocks away. Saving the Arts Initiative is imperative and necessary to our development as students and as people.
CUArts is an invaluable part of my student experience. As a poet and as a musician, I highly value the Columbia’s performance/art culture and I believe that CUArts makes a valuable contribution to that culture. Without CUArts, student organizations that rely on the funding and services that it provides will suffer, and this is completely unacceptable. At a University which claims to express a desire to educate its students in the arts through its Core curriculum, and which is situated in a city that is esteemed for the value it places on the arts and performance, it is absurd to think that a program that aims to connect students to culture and the arts should be neglected in this way. CUArts is an invaluable resource and the university needs to value it.
CU Arts is one of the main reasons I applied early to Columbia. I wanted to immerse myself in the New York City arts scene and felt that the different branches of the program would allow me to fully do so. I particularly loved the agreements between Columbia and several museums throughout the city allowing us free entry. They definitely encouraged me to spend countless rainy days exploring beautiful artwork and it saddens me that this aspect of CU Arts is being lost.
Columbia offers some students an opportunity to experience the arts at subsidized prices that they otherwise couldn’t afford or would not have available to them based on where they are from.
The arts are often overlooked as something frivolous, but I believe that they are truly a reflection of ourselves. Our work on campus, the work/life balance, and all the issues we wrestle with as part of the human condition. The Arts Initiative does so much for campus by bringing us that option to see it, and I would hate to see it gone.
CU Arts is a fundamental part of the Columbia experience. Without it, student engagement with the arts, both on and off campus, would be drastically reduced. Funding for CU Arts should be increased to reflect the incredible value of the work that it performs for the Columbia community.
Columbia please remember that you are in New York City for a reason.
Access to museums, shows, exhibits, etc. is one of the things that makes Columbia a unique and culturally stimulating university. The arts initiative makes these opportunities affordable even to people who normally could not afford to attend or visit artistic exhibitions.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
Coming from North Dakota, the emphasis on an education outside of the university was a large reason that I came to Columbia. Because of the Columbia Arts Initiative, I have been able to explore the city’s diverse and world-class performances, exhibits, and events.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
We have thoroughly enjoyed the events of CUArts and found it a wonderful resource for the Columbia alumni community.
An integral part of the Columbia experience
Line Placement has provided an amazing learning experience that has augmented my medical education by teaching me to see people and sketch them as them as they are.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
The Arts Initiative has been the most important factor in my ability to engage with arts in the city as it often provides the type of subsidized rates that make it possible for students to afford enjoying cultural events/museums/etc in new york city.
Programs like Line Placement provide a welcome change of pace and environment to our heavy lab work schedules. I would be sad to see programs like this go, for lack of funding.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus. This resource for the arts would not have been possible for the CUMC community without Gatsby funding.
For students, faculty, staff, and alumni with demanding schedules CUArts is the beacon that reminds us of how necessary it is to stop and enjoy everything that is rich and essential about the arts. CUArts is an incredibly valuable and dynamic program that contributes so much to the lives of the Columbia community.For me personally, CUArts has exposed me to a variety of events and programing that I would have never had the time or resources to seek out on my own as a student. Injecting arts programming into my busy schedule allowed me to return to my academic work with renewed enthusiasm and perspective. In a concentration outside of the arts, CUArts helped shape my academic career at Columbia, it would be a significant loss for Columbia to be without this program in its full capacity.
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ditto
With having a city campus, there are certain perks and certain drawbacks. One major plus for me has always been access to shows and exhibits, which in turn inspire our own artists and performers on campus. A major drawback of this particular city is that it is (I’m pretty sure) the most expensive city in America. To keep events like these affordable is to keep our community together, not through a giant close-knit campus out in the suburbs but through providing shared experiences in our own back yard.
In a time of political, economical, and moral strife, the last thing we should give up is our passion for the arts.
As a teacher who has to pay my way through graduate school this is the ONLY way I can afford to see these museums and other venues. Please don’t take it away!
The Arts define this university just as much as other initiatives like science research or athletics. It is imperative to the well-being of our community to keep this initiative thriving.
It’s necessary.
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CU Arts gave me access to so many arts events across NYC — without it, I wouldn’t have enjoyed my years at Columbia as much!
I sign this important petition. As a CU art history student and instructor I have strongly benefitted from opportunities offered by CUarts. I really hope it will continue!
In light of our financial crisis, I understand that the arts are the last to receive funding and attention, but at times like these people need art even more. The community of Columbia University deserves an organization like CUArts. The Initiative has not only motivated me to take advantage of the NY arts scene, but has also allowed me to give back to the Columbia community through my work with the Columbia Ballet Collaborative.
Without CUArts I wouldn’t have seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) half the musicals I did!
CU Arts Initiative allowed me to have the best undergraduate experience I could’ve had. When I was finally done with school work and extracurriculars, thanks to CU Arts I was motivated to go out and explore all the arts this city has to offer. I went to countless museums and classical music concerts that I otherwise would not have been able to afford. Even small things like discounted movie tickets helped a huge deal when planning events with friends. The NSOP party at the Met was a fantastic way to be introduced to Columbia and the city, and I would hate for incoming freshmen to miss out on similar experiences. Please save CU Arts!
What is a Columbia education without a thriving Arts Initiative? The amount that this program has added to my life is immeasurable. Do what it takes to not just keep it alive and well, but GROWING!
Full support.
If we had lost CUArts four years ago, I would never have seen my friends produce ‘Q: The Series’, nor would I have read The Columbia Review or New Poetry Magazine, nor would I have ever visited the Noguchi Museum, which stands as one of my most beloved spaces in the city. CUArts, and the Gatsby Fund in particular, have facilitated some of the most illuminating, entrepreneurial creative work on campus, where other organizations may not have had the wherewithal and patience to support them. CUArts has opened up the city to thousands of Columbians and has let us, for years, engage the arts community of NYC in ways that are not often conceivable or accessible to college students.
Columbia must give priority to the arts. If we let CUArts to flounder without proper funding or direction, then we have failed in our mission as a university, as a learning institution, to bring the arts to our students and our students to the arts. We cannot allow CUArts to die.
In CUArts, Columbia students have the singular opportunity to enjoy the wonders this city has to offer. This program is one of the great gifts the University can bestow on its students. Please don’t let it die.
As treasurer of the Philolexian Society, a dually recognized group of Columbia and Barnard, I believe that the loss of the CU Arts Initiative would have a terrible effect on the campus and student groups. From my own perspective, the Philolexian Society depends on the Gatsby Grant each year to help meet the costs of our magazine, Surgam. Surgam allows members of the campus to submit their own original works of poetry, prose, art, or photography for all the campus to see. In addition, our magazine is widely distributed to alumni of the Philolexian Society, many of whom would be disappointed at the loss or significant reduction in printing size or quality of our staple literary work.
This does not even begin to address the overall benefit of the CU Arts Initiative, allowing students to have such great access to the city’s finest cultural institutions. It is entirely possible that students could go out on their own and use their own money, but I think without that initial motivation of “and it’s free!” will mean fewer students will take advantage of the city. Worse still, there is the very real possibility that some students would like to go out, but their budgets do not allow for such trips and will be deprived of once in a lifetime opportunities.
I implore the powers that be in the Columbia University chain of command to continue funding the CU Arts Initiative. Budget cuts are understandable, but the symbolic loss of this program would be devastating and would signal a tone shift that I would rather the campus not take.
Sincerely,
Ezra Schrage
Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program ’14
Nothing in my Lit Hum class compared with going out to Brooklyn to see Derek Jacobi play King Lear at BAM, with tickets from CUArts. Make sure future incoming classes can have the same incredible experience!
Please keep CU Arts going as strong as in previous years
As an aspiring artist and poet myself, I had the option to go to art school when applying to colleges, but in my decision-making process was inspired by Columbia’s commitment to building well-rounded students through things like the Core, the variety of extracurricular opportunities on campus, and through its specially funded programs like the Arts Initiative. I felt secure in my pursuing my creative career goals at Columbia and felt like my interests were being represented. I was proud of Columbia’s commitment to art, went to museums weekly, purchased discounted tickets and attended the various performances and showcases on campus. I met other people who were interested in art and music and theater, and found a community on campus of artists and non-artists alike who shared a love and curiosity for the arts that I always worried I would not have at Columbia, and that I thought I could only get by attending an art school. The Arts Initiative has built me up into a greater artist than I ever imagined I’d be, and has allowed me to get inspired by the art all over this amazing city–location being one of the points that Columbia boasts as an advantage, simply because of the rich cultural and creative environment we live in. I’ve joined organizations funded by the Gatsby grants and have personally witnessed them suffer in recent years because of funding cuts. Beyond the Arts Initiative, I have witnessed Columbia’s commitment to art on campus wavering in the last two years, and I am heartbroken at what seems to be a decreasing amount of support for such a large community on campus. I am incredibly thankful for the Arts Initiative and what it has given me in my time here, and I will do anything I can to keep this program alive for future Columbia students who are as passionate about the arts as I am.
As an engineering student, Columbia’s vibrant art culture was a huge lure for me to come here. I have no doubt that campus culture would suffer without the opportunity of CU Arts
In my opinion, CUArts’ main value is the access it gives students to the amazing art available in this mecca of artistic talent, NYC. I would be especially keen to see Passport to Columbia re-extended to include museums like the Frick and the Guggenheim; they have amazing collections but unfortunately cost a lot to get in, which is often a factor in students deciding whether or not to visit.
CU Arts provides students, faculty, and staff with the opportunity to experience aspects of New York that they might not be able to otherwise. Gatsby grants are invaluable to student theatre-makers. Plus, working at the TIC is a great pleasure.
The CU Arts Initiative provides Columbia Students with an actual well rounded education. It distinguishes us from the other Ivy schools, and gives us the chance to enjoy this wonderful City.
The Initiative opens our eyes to a world outside of CU – it is an invaluable resource. For me, it is part of what makes attending college in a city different.
We need to save this.
I remember early on first semester freshman year I got a great discount and a great seat at a NY Philharmonic concert – it was a Beethoven Symphony!
CU Arts initiative has funded many student events that has not only impacted me personally but has also helped foster a community here at Columbia. It’s presence helps contribute to the liveliness of our campus and also gives students the opportunity to engage with the arts both on and off campus. SAVE CU ARTS.
Located in a city with so much culture, Columbia University should allow students to experience all that NYC has to offer by providing them with an affordable and convenient resource.
CUArts is an incredible privilege, but it should also remain a priority. CUArts is not just a perk of being a Columbia student, it is a statement of commitment by the University to active engagement with contemporary culture. The program affirms that every Columbia student can and should engage creative arts on campus, outside the classroom, and throughout the city.
From Broadways [The Lion King, a favorite of mine; Marry Poppins for the folks & grandparents] to the movies [& a night out with a long time friend], from student play productions [where I've helped with construction] to student publications [I've published works in] CU Arts does so much for us.
Art means knowledge, beauty, connections, and growth.
How can we risk losing this?
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” -Pablo Picasso
CU Arts should be thriving, not dying.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” -Thomas Merton
“A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind.” -Eugene Lonesco
Revive the Arts!
Please save this program! As an engineer, I cannot stress enough how great it is to have something like CU Arts offer such a convenient and cheap way to enjoy my other passions: music and art!
Would be a shame not to have this anymore…
There is no doubt that CU Arts is crucially important to the education of students in the arts and for providing a balance to the demanding curricula. Make it better instead of defunding it!
As a SEAS student and computer science major, many may not suspect my deep appreciation for the arts. However, one of the main reasons I chose to attend Columbia was to engage in the arts around the city. I am a frequent museum visitor and concert attendee. I even recently declared a minor in Art History. I fully support the “Save the Arts Initiative” and hope to see significant change in the near future.
CUArts has been a great resource for both students and student organizations. On the student level, the Arts Initiative is able to bring so many different opportunities to explore the art and cultural resources New York offers. On the student group level, the Gatsby Fund has been providing the means for groups to hold amazing events that otherwise would not happen. Just to give a more personal example, as the president of Columbia Science Review, I was able to obtain enough funds from the Gatsby Fund to hold our annual Science and Art Exhibit that has been dependent on the fund since its initiation 3 years ago. It’s imperative that CUArts goes through fundamental changes to provide the Columbia community with the same resources as it has in the past.
CUArts encourages Columbia students to engage with their cultural surroundings in NYC; it is a great resource for current and would-be lovers of art, opera, music, and more. Please reaffirm Columbia’s commitment to and continual support of CUArts.
I buy ALL of my tickets for shows and concerts through CU Arts Initiative!
Save CU Arts!
Gatsby funding is an important source of revenue for the Line Placement figure drawing group at CUMC. Participants come from medical, dental, graduate, and other affiliated schools for the only figure drawing club at the medical center campus.
While some may take it for granted, the resources that the CU Arts Initiative provides are extremely critical to our intellectual growth and appreciation of the arts found in NYC, something much needed in an otherwise cold, brutal world.
Both the visual and performing arts are passions of mine, and in choosing Columbia University as my place of study, I was greatly looking forward to opportunities to further my understanding and practice. For me and many other students, the theater programs and visual arts initiatives at CU let us express ourselves and learn in a way the classroom environment does not allow. Of course, book learning is essential, but the arts are a welcomed break – students are better functioning (and happier) when given access to the arts. Keep your students sane! Save the arts!
CU arts initiative supports clubs like Artist Society and Columbia Undergraduate Journal of South Asian Studies.
Please don’t take away one of the things that I, and many others, came here for.
CU Arts has provided me with cheap tickets to Joshua Bell concert and MET opera shows. It is a great resource for all students.
Made my experience via the discounted tickets and arts email updates.
The CU Arts Initiative has provided me cheap tickets to a number of opera shows. I did not realize how much I enjoyed opera until I moved to New York and my friend purchased tickets to Carmen through the Tic. Since then I have been to a number of shows, all of the tickets being purchased through CUAI.
The club of which I am a board member, The Columbia University Artist Society, gets funding from Gatsby which is part of CUArts. The artist society is a great service to students such as myself who have had difficulty getting into the studio arts classes needed for the Art History with Visual Arts Concentration major. Through artist society, I have found an affordable way to keep practicing drawing on my own.
CUArts is a great resource for Columbia students. I wouldn’t go to MoMA, the Mets, or any of those broadway shows if it weren’t for CUArts. I’m an engineering student but I love arts and CUArts really makes it possible for me to take all those advantages. CUArts generously supports the Artist Society, whose weekly sketching sessions are always one of my favorite times in a week. And I always feel myself calmer and happier afterwards.
CU Arts takes learning outside of the classroom, facilitating critical engagement with the city and supporting student artistic ventures on campus. Please keep it functioning at its potential and true to its vision.
CU Arts Initiative has allowed me to see various broadway shows that I would not have been able to see without CU Arts.
Losing this opportunity would be really unfortunate.
This is my first semester at Columbia and already I have experienced the invaluable resources and events by CUArts. Being a student and with limited budget it is essential to have access to affordable arts and culture events that CUArts lists every week.
The Morning Side Lights Festival was an amazing event. It has brought together the students and public together to create a creative feast of floating lights that has illuminated our hearts.
CUArts is invaluable! It is a window unto the culture and arts in New York City for all of the Columbia community!
Save CUArts
CU Arts Initiative has helped me discover my passion for opera and has allowed me to go to the Met so many times with my friends which we would not have been able to afford otherwise. As an art history major, this program has been invaluable to me
The CU Art Initiative has given me opportunities to visit museums ans enhance my knowledge of culture and art.
CU Arts was one of the major reasons I chose Columbia. I joined the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee to attract more students to Columbia, and I loved seeing their eyes widen every time I told tours about CU Arts, just the way mine did back then. Please don’t let this wonderful part of our community wither away!
I wanted to be a fine arts major but do not have time because I am pre-med. CU arts lets me still have access to art events and opportunities to paint and draw without taking classes. Being able to still do art means the world to me and is one of the reasons I love Columbia.
I greatly valued the Arts Initiative both while I was a student at Columbia and in the post-grad, poor years living in the city. I attended countless events I would not otherwise have been able to see – ballet, opera, musicals. The museum pass was undeniably an essential part of the education I received “at Columbia.” Please, do not take away such an important resource for students – and recent grads!
As a student in the engineering school, I had limited exposure to the arts in my normal curriculum, despite it being a strong passion of mine. CUArts allowed me to experience the wide range of cultural activities available not only in NYC, but also on campus . Columbia’s dedication to fostering an artistic community on campus is the reason I chose to attend this school, and I’m confident that I would not have my current career in the arts if it wasn’t for the amazing opportunities and experiences I was afforded while being both a member and employee of various CUArts programs. It’s a tragedy to hear what has become of it in the last few years since I graduated.
I was able to experience amazing broadway shows! It really promotes NYC culture at a cheap price. Not only do I, but my parents too, are greatly appreciative of it!
The CU Arts Initiative was a window that allowed me to become attuned to the arts scene in New York City. Every effort should be made to preserve this enriching program.
CUArts made my life both as a student and as an alumna much richer. During midterms and finals, I would get a reprieve from the stress and stench of blood, sweat and tears in Butler and head out for a 2-hour study break at the Whitney, MoMA or the Met. This would have been prohibitively expensive without CUArts. As an alum in the city, I was a member of the Alumni Arts League and was so grateful for the discounts and programming that it enabled. My transition to a professional life at the height of the recession was much smoother and happier than it otherwise would have been.
Many of us come to Columbia University IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK exactly because of this access to the city’s cultural resources. The city, as much as our old brick buildings, is our campus.
Certainly thinking of students as future alumni and donors, the University should be considering how to maintain and enhance their experiences. CUArts is a proven way to do that.
My Columbia experience was greatly enriched by class trips to the opera and the Guggenheim; in addition to free weekend visits to nearly every museum in New York. This is an invaluable program!
I came into college knowing absolutely nothing about the arts and left with a greater understanding and lingering appreciation of it. Having programs like CUArts really helped Columbia stand out — the selling points of art and music hum were intrinsically linked to our unique access, and it’d be a terrible shame to see them go to waste. Please help keep these initiatives alive and well!
CU Arts is an invaluable resource to students!
Save the Arts! The opportunities to explore the Arts in NYC is an important part of the school’s curriculum.
CUArts is vital to the health of the Columbia student community. Without the arts, life dies. We need access to all the wonderful opportunities CUArts provides.
Save the arts!!
Save the arts, Columbia!
I have enjoyed the opportunity to go to the opera with classes through ArtsLink, and getting discount tickets through CUArts. I would be very disappointed if these programs continued to decline as a result of poor funding to the Arts Initiative. SAVE THE ARTS INITIATIVE!!!!
I enjoyed parts of New York City that I would have never experienced had it not been for CU Arts. It was part of what made the Columbia experience amazing and part of what has made me long to be back at CU!
The Arts experience in NYC is an integral part of being a Columbia student. The Columbia education is not just what we learn in the classrooms but what we come in touch with in this great city. CU Arts provides the opportunity for students to access what would otherwise be too expensive or simply unknown to college students. Don’t let the Arts Initiative die!
Shows, operas, and museums brought many of my classes to life. My Columbia experience would not have been the same without them.
If Columbia University wants to continue working toward building a “well-rounded” and “engaged” community, it cannot continue to cut the programs, grants, and initiatives that allow for such a community.
As a first generation college student, who comes from a low-income family, it is amazing that I am even able to afford to come to Columbia. I deeply and sincerely appreciate the generosity of this university. When I got here, I was able to really fully take advantage of the city because of the CUArts initiative. I was able to see my first broadway show, go out to movies, and explore so many museums because of it. I know that for many of my classmates, CUArts alleviates the costs of these, and makes them more accessible to Columbia students, however, if taken away, they would still have the opportunity to have these experiences. For myself however, there is no way that I would have been able to take advantage of so much of New York City were it not for the CUArts initiative.
Were it not for CUArts, I would not have been able to experience New York City—as well as the immense amount of talent right on our own campus. Its discounted tickets, wide range of programming, the emails that kept me in the know about the most interesting arts and culture related events on- and off-campus… It is important for students to expose themselves to and explore the arts, and CUArts helps facilitate that. Save the Arts Initiative!
CU Arts constitutes an essential part of the Columbia NYC experience!
Save the Arts Initiative! This is my 5th semester with the Columbia Ballet Collaborative and it has been the best experience I’ve had at Columbia. If Columbia Ballet Collaborative did not exist I would not have applied to Barnard or Columbia as a high school dancer and I know many other current students and past applicants share this sentiment.
The Arts Initiative let me experience New York on a student budget.
As an Art History and Visual Arts major, the existence of CUArts is integral to my academic experience. Aside from providing opportunities to participate in art events around campus and the city, it creates a general air of appreciation for the arts among my peers. My peers are much more likely to visit museums in their time off when they know an initiative such as this one exists. That in itself gives value to my education. When a community is receptive, it makes the arts possible.
The events and opportunities sponsored and hosted by CU Arts was a formative and critical component of my experience as a Columbian. Dissolving CU Arts disintegrates an exceptional and singular piece of Columbia’s foundation, and undermines the core of its spirit.
The Arts Initiative let students like me learn directly from the amazing creative institutions the City has to offer. It could have been (and should now be) the capstone of Columbia’s rebranding effort that began under President Bollinger: we are, as his team reminds potential applicants again and again, Columbia University *in the City of New York.* Please give future classes the artistic opportunities that others had, and bring them out into the world of the arts that exists for them.
I came to Columbia to take advantage of New York – CUArts has let me do this on a student budget….without it, Columbia students who cannot afford unsubsidized tickets to events in our wonderful city. If you want to keep the name “Columbia University IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK,” we need to make it possible for ALL student to take advantage of the city.
This program is part of what makes being a Columbia student unique. It encourages students to explore the city, and I believe it is partially responsible for the broad diversity of interests and the high level of multicultural understanding of Columbia’s student body. Frankly, at Columbia, we can boast of students who are excited to talk about what they saw at the opera, or what book a museum visit inspired them to check out of the library. CUArts is an important link in this chain of intellectual production. PLZ Save!
Save CU Arts!
Save the arts!!
Please save CUarts for our sake. Columbia’s focuses so heavily on academics that it forgets that it’s students are multifaceted. We enjoy other things besides reading or economics. I know that a lot of my happiness stems from enjoying the arts in all aspects, which in return allows me to take on my academics. Columbia please don’t be selfish!
The CU ARTS initiative was one of the reasons that I came to Columbia. I loved that I was going to be on a campus while at the same time, I was highly encouraged to explore the rest of the city and go to all the museums and other cultural attractions in the city. During my freshman year, I went to almost Dall the museums on the list because I thought that it was such an amazing opportunity. I think the culture of Columbia will change greatly if this program was destroyed.
DO NOT DESTROY THIS OPPORTUNITY. DO NOT DESTROY THE CULTURE OF COLUMBIA Save the Arts
save the arts!
There is little more to be said that has not already been enumerated by this petition.
Several of my classmates and I came to this University on account of the diversity of the arts that we hoped it, and the City, would offer.
As an Art History major, CU Arts has played an integral part in my education outside of the classroom.
Save CU Arts! Some of my best experiences at Columbia were funded by this organization.
I have choreographed shows such as The Varsity Show and CUPAL Special Projects that have earned support from ArtsLink and the Arts Initiative. In addition, CU Dance Marathon, an event that I am very passionate about, has received funding from the Gatsby Foundation. Save CUArts! It is great!
The Arts Initiative has played such a vital role in my experience at this university–from funding projects I’m involved in (The Vagina Monologues!) to facilitating my access to the cultural resources of this city. Save the Arts Initiative!
Save CUArts!!
Save the arts!
Save CUArts!
Save the Arts! One of the reasons I came to Columbia and one of the best ways to experience NYC.
Save CUArts!
The Arts Initiative has acted so, so many times as a bridge between my educational experiences in the classroom at Columbia and my educational experiences in greater NYC. This is really an invaluable program for a major university in this city and one that I anticipate remembering and contributing to actively as a future alum.
CUArts truly helped me experience the vibrance of New York City, through discounted tickets to Broadway shows, free museum trips on a Friday afternoon, or engaging speaker events.
The Arts Initiative helps me experience art in New York City, and participate in art on this campus. I hope other students will have the same opportunities to experience the arts that I have now.
Save the Arts!
Save CUArts! It was one of my best experiences as an undergrad.
The CU arts initiative has provided myself, and many other Columbia students with the wonderful opportunity to explore the city’s art collection, in addition to being as to acquire cheap and/or free tickets to concerts and Broadway shows. If the Arts Initiative is forced to re-size, many Columbia students will be unable to participate in the art opportunities of New York City.
The Arts Initiative funds The Vagina Monologues-EVERY YEAR! It is an integral part of facilitating discussion around sexual violence on campus and empowering female voices that otherwise would not be heard. This is the essence of growing and maturing through an academic, artistic environment-dont change that!
I have used CUArts to access many cultural events here in NYC that would be otherwise unavailable to me. Most importantly, I rely on CUArts to make museums and events available to my students! Through CUArts, they are able to bring conversations and ideas out of the classroom and into the world.
The CU Arts Initiative was a vital and memorable part of my Columbia education. It’s incredibly important that future Columbia students benefit from all it can offer.
I’ve loved experiencing the arts in the city thanks to the Arts Initiative, but more importantly I’ve loved what the Gatsby grants and the CBC subsidy bring to our campus. It’s vital that we save and strengthen the Arts Initiative!
Arts Initiative is definitely one of the best experience one can get at Columbia. I could stop by for an hour or two at the Met or MOMA (or formerly Guggenheim) to take a look at the major work of arts of Monet, my favorite artist, and not to mention other great masterpieces. I was also able to get a ticket to a Shakespeare play, King Lear, at a discounted price.
I think these were the most memorable moments of the Core Curriculum because I was actually involved with what I was learning, and was given an opportunity to think about it on my own, outside the classroom. The King Lear play had greatly enhanced my understanding of the work while I was taking Lit Hum, and occasional visit for Monet’s work would let me think about what perspective the society in 19C had on its surrounding world.
Since I have been at Columbia, one of the things that made me proud of being at this institution was the fact that this wonderful programs like this Arts Initiative allowed me to take advantage of parts of New York City that I would not have been able to. Everytime I have been at a museum or a performance around NYC, I was always incredibly grateful that I could afford to enjoy such things that I would have otherwise missed out. Columbia experience for future students will not be the same as ours if this were to decline any further.
During my time at Columbia, we were able to take the Arts Initiative for granted. We went freely to museums without considering the cost. We applied for generous Gatsby Grants to support student programming that might not otherwise have happened. We experienced our coursework in Art and Literature Humanities firsthand at the Met. We told stories about our nights out at the museum during orientation week for years to come. We still do, in fact, even years later. And this “we” is important, because my classmates and I did all of these things together, and in doing so developed a strong, vibrant community. For me, that is the role of the arts, and that is the absolutely essential role that the Arts Initiative played during my time – during our time – at Columbia.
Today I conduct ARC interviews for the admissions office. Imagine the disappointment when a prospsective student hears about all of these fantastic opportunities, only to find later that they are no longer available. Or perhaps worse, if I have to catch myself mid-sentence and add a comment about how “You probably won’t get to go to THAT museum for free, but I’m sure you will find other good ones.”
It doesn’t have the same ring to it. More importantly, it doesn’t result in the same community growth or opportunities for student artists and performers, as well as student-non-artists and non-performers, to explore new and exciting opportunities to integrate the arts with life both on and off campus.
Whats the point of attending school in NY if you can’t take full advantage of the arts & culture of this great city? Without the expansive NY Arts community as Columbia’s campus I guess I’ll just go to NJ and enjoy Princeton’s vibrant Broadway theaters, Met museums & Art House cinemas. Fund the CU Arts Initiative!
Columbia College ’13
CU Arts opened New York City to me and shaped my college experience as much as any class I took.
Don’t do stupid irreversible mistakes. We are a Liberal Arts University, does that mean nothing to you?
The access we have to Museum have not only served as an educational experience but also something that has enhanced my cultural and mental wellness – being able step off campus and engage in such an activity is so invaluable. SAVE THE ARTS!!
Save the arts!! CUArts offers affordable options for students of this university. This has helped me and my friends experience the best of CU and NYC!! SAVE IT!!
Columbia isn’t a college of New York City if there is no Arts Initiative.
Support the arts!
Keep the Arts alive!
Save the arts!
CU Arts provided me with an unforgettable four years in New York, allowing me to enjoy performances and exhibitions that I would not have been able to find nor finance through normal means. It’s positively what sets Columbia in New York apart from all those other schools, and makes the Columbia experience really, really, really count.
I got to see Phantom of the Opera with a ticket from a CUarts lottery. I would not have been able to afford it otherwise, and it is probably one of my fondest experiences in the city. That musical just works so well.
The CU Arts Initiative provided me one of the best internships ever. I hope it can continue to do the same for others.
It’s worth it!
Save the Arts!
CU Arts was one of the best experiences I had at Columbia. It is the one thing that truly set my undergraduate experience apart from any other equally prestigious university I could have gone to.
Save CU Arts!
As an Art History major, this resource is invaluable!
Spears!!
I want to keep dancing at Columbia! Save CU Arts!
I was a Visual Arts concentrator at Columbia. Without the Arts Initiative, I’m sure that my access to the city’s and Columbia’s own thriving arts culture would have become much more circumscribed. CUArts is an essential part of Columbia’s student offerings, not just for art students but for everyone, and it would be a tremendous loss to the school if the program ceased. I can’t think of a single of my peers at Columbia who didn’t have some sort of positive interaction with the program, whether through class outings to plays, free museum access, discounted tickets, or on-campus productions. Of all institutions, Columbia should know that cutting the arts first during a budgetary time of crisis is a terrible misstep with profound reverberations. Don’t take away the Arts Initiative. Don’t rob students of an essential cultural education.
So many memories made because of events through CUArts. An essential part of the Columbia experience, all future students deserve to have this amazing resource!
One of the best features about Columbia that set it apart from other New York schools during my time in college was its commitment to the arts. I remember attending an information session for Columbia as an applicant. The presenter emphasized this point: “Columbia University in the City of New York.” It is not just Columbia University. The presenter emphasized the University’s commitment to see the students actually immerse in the diverse culture New York has to offer and take advantage of all the opportunities New York City has to provide. The University would in no way be what it is today without New York City and its immense cultural influence, especially the arts. The best parts of Columbia most definitely included the privilege to watch an opera with ticket prices in $100′s or above for $15 or little more. What a huge encouragement it was to really experience the arts! I personally have watched so many Broadway shows through CUArts I can’t even count. The money I’ve saved probably is at least a thousand dollars. As a music major at Columbia, of course I wanted to watch these shows. Of course I wanted to go to museums, and hear the Philharmonic. Would I have if it weren’t for the Arts Initiative? Probably not. I would have never been able to afford such prices. It is a shame that these great initiatives haven been taken away. It is a great privilege that not many schools give to their students, but I believe Columbia with the core, has a commitment to the arts that no other schools have. The core is simply not complete without access to the arts. Please keep funding for CUArts.
an irreplaceable part of what makes Columbia “in the city of New York.”
save CUARTS!!
I may be a SEAS student, but the arts are just as important to me as the solid education I will get from Columbia. Having the opportunity to explore the city and what it has to offer, especially in terms of the arts, is something I was so looking forward to as a prospective student here. Save CU Arts!
I have become more aware of the arts and culture that New York has to offer.
CU Arts was fundamental to my undergraduate career.
good luck
CU Arts was an invaluable enrichment to my Columbia experience! I hope other students can experience the same!!!!
CUArts is one of the best aspects of the Columbia undergraduate experience and was a major factor — even as a major in the natural sciences — in my decisions to apply to Columbia and to accept Columbia’s offer of admission. I know many other undergraduates who feel similarly about the importance of CUArts. Please, save CUArts!
The unforgettable education and experiences I have shared with the art in the city of New York have informed the student and young adult that I am today. This would not have been possible without the support of the CU Arts Initiative. It would be a lamentable mistake for the administration to take this incredible opportunity for students to come. The CU Arts Initiative is what makes Columbia University the most appealing prestigious university in New York City and in the northeast.
please please please
The reason I chose Columbia/Barnard was the impressive dance department, not to mention all of the other arts opportunities. Save CU Arts!
Thanks for pushing this through – remembering those museum trips throughout
Save the arts! xoxo
SAVE CU ARTS!!
YAY!
The arts are awesome.
We should totally save them!
This is a haiku.
Save CU Arts!
An invaluable resource for our education, both academic and cultural.
Save CU Arts!
I’m a prospective visual arts major. Part of the reason why I chose to come to Columbia (over other great colleges) was because of its accessibility to the amazing arts New York city has to offer. The arts initiative has given Columbia university an edge over its competitors… and it would be a real shame if it were to cut its funding.
When I won tickets to Chicago through Urban New York my freshman year, I was excited not only to see the show, but so grateful that I attended a university which believes that sponsoring student participation in the arts is a good use of money. As Columbia students, we tend to get wrapped up in our academics and forget about the incredible bounty of art of all forms in the city, right at our fingertips. The Arts Initiative helps us take advantage of the city and expand our horizons beyond our subject of study.
Ars longa, vita brevis.
the Arts initiative gave birth to more experiences and deeper knowledge of theater, writers, performing arts than would ever have been open to me otherwise. My time in NYC been unequivocally expanded and heightened because of it – PLEASE SAVE THIS INITIATIVE
Save the Arts Initiative!!!
Enriched my time so far at CU and experience in the city, especially as an Art History student.
I would not have seen the wonderful world of Broadway plays had it not been for the Arts Initiative.
I would have never seen a broadway show, or my friends put on original work in the black box, were it not for CUarts.
CU Arts is one of the things that makes Columbia special and that makes a difference for incoming students! Save CUARTS
Save CUARTS
The CUArts really encourages my friends and I to get off-campus and appreciate the numerous arts NYC has to offer. Without it, we would probably not have visited so many museums and seen so many concerts! I would be extremely sad if CUArts was removed, as it is an essential part of the Columbia experience, because without it, we would not be able to fully appreciate New York.
CUArts contributes to Columbia University students’ immersion in New York City. This is what makes Columbia so unique, and it should be treasured and supported as an important part of the Columbia education.
CU arts was one of my favorite things about my college experience! So important!
So important!
An invaluable resource for the Columbia community.
As an art history student, the ready access CUArts provided me to museums in my four years at Columbia was invaluable. It’s a saddening, and maddening, thought that future students of all majors may not have the same opportunity to stand in front of and learn from some of the world’s most incredible works of art as easily. This is only one of the innumerable ways in which the Arts Initiative had a profound impact on my education and extracurriculars, and I truly hope the University will take heed of everyone’s calls to affirm its commitment to the arts and take action. Save CUArts!
Indispensable resource
CUArts is a unique and irreplaceable program that was part of my Columbia University experience. It allows students to afford the cultural experiences NYC has to offer. It also provides important skills to the students who manage the box office, website and organizations.
without the Arts Initiative I would never do anything interesting outside of Morningside Heights. if you get rid of it we might as well be Cornell.
Without CUArts, I don’t know how Columbia University can continue to make the claim that it fully integrates itself with the city. CUArts is one of the most significant factors in the relationship.
Without the Arts Initiative, “Columbia University in the City of New York” would seem like false advertising. AI makes the cultural resources of NYC, of which the school takes full advantage in its marketing materials, actually accessible and affordable to its students. The TIC and Passport to New York incalculably enriched my undergrad experience.
CUARTS provided me with many resources during my four years at Columbia. As a participant in student theater, I benefited from the Gatsby grants, and as a student who took many theater literature classes, I benefited from Arts Link. CUARTS was a tremendous asset to my college experience and I have no doubt that all Columbia students feel the same.
The Arts Initiative has been a tremendous resource during my time at Columbia. It’s been a fantastic way to take advantage of all the city has to offer and should be fully supported by Columbia. Save CUArts!
CUArts allows Columbia students on a budget to really experience what New York City has to offer. We’re all here to get an education and CUArts is a vital part of getting students to explore the cultural aspect of a well-rounded education.
So many trips to museums across the city were inspired and sponsored by the Arts Initiative and it’s very sad to me to think that future students won’t have the rich experiences that I had.
It is very important that Columbia maintains funding to this initiative to keep things fair for people who would otherwise be unable to afford such amazing things as museums and the opera. It would be an abuse of student faith in the university administration and a betrayal of this school’s often advertised ethos to remove funding for a programme which enables students to experience parts of new york they would otherwise be unable to.
I’ve been able to see wonderful theater, both on campus and off campus. XMAS has become a staple in my winter and always provides me with much finals studying relief. I always look forward to the musicals that student-run groups put on every year and it would be an understatement to say I’d be disappointed if those shows were no longer possible. The arts are an integral part of the college and the New York City experience.
through the tic enabled me to go out and see opera theater museums- it defined my undergrad experience. How can you take the core curriculum and ignore all the opera, fine art, and theater NYC has to offer?!
I am currently a first year phd student in gsas. Last year when selecting from amongst programs that accepted me (including most its and top rated programs in my field) I chose columbia. A big part of that was the desire to remain in NYC and to continue taking advantage of all NYc has to offer- something that I and most other students would be unable to do without cu arts and it’s funding for student arts programming. A major selling point of why choose attending Columbia vs other top schools is: Columbia is in NYC. I do not understand how the administration can cut funding to a programming that enables students to do just that.
Invaluable resource
From performance announcements, discounts, and lotteries to professional opportunities and guidance, the Arts Initiative was an integral thread in the fabric of my undergraduate experience. Every Columbia student, equally a student of New York City as the University, deserves access to the arts in the way that only the Arts Initiative can provide.
I am writing this from my off campus apt without power using the last bit of cellphone battery to write this.
I was an undergrad at cc- curates through the tic enabled me to go out and see opera theater museums- it defined my undergrad experience. How can you take the core curriculum and ignore all the opera, fine art, and theater NYC has to offer?!
I am currently a first year phd student in gsas. Last year when selecting from amongst programs that accepted me (including most its and top rated programs in my field) I chose columbia. A big part of that was the desire to remain in NYC and to continue taking advantage of all NYC. Has to offer- something that I and most other students would be unable to do without charts and it’s funding for student arts programming. When one of THE major selling points of why go to Columbia over other top schools is to experience NYC- I cannot fathom how Columbia could cut funding to the program initiative that does just that.
As a student, active in the on-campus theater community (KCST), the arts programing supported by CUArts available to me both on- and off-campus formed critical portion of my college experience. Removing, dismantling or curtailing this program would be detrimental to the liberal-arts education Columbia strives to provide its students.
CU Arts contributed to some of best parts of my Columbia and early NY experience. PLEASE SAVE CU ARTS!!!!!
The arts wouldn’t be a part of my life today if it wasn’t for the great exposure I’ve had as an undergraduate thanks to CUarts. CUarts is what keeps Columbia grounded in the cultural life of New York City, and I have witnessed how CUarts has brought people and ideas together. Please keep it alive and thriving.
We all need CUArts to continue to integrate NYC into life at Columbia.
Someone needs to look out for those of us who try to produce theatre on campus. Columbia risks losing future talent if it is not perceived to be a place where the arts can flourish. Please hear our concerns so we can move forward and put the Columbia arts experience back at the center of our focus.
The Arts initiative was invaluable to my experience as an undergraduate; museum visits, discounted tickets to concerts, and opportunities to fund student performances/exhibits were and are invaluable resources for students.
We are lucky enough to be located in the art center of the world and we should be doing everything we can to help students to capitalize on that!
CU Arts is one of Columbia’s most distinctive and beloved features. Save the Arts Initiative!
Save CUArts!
As Vice President of Columbia TAAL, Columbia’s South Asian fusion dance team, I have greatly benefitted from the Arts Initiative. It helps us put on our annual dance showcase Naach Nation by helping with tech charges. It also allows students better access to the museums and other cultural events in New York City.
As a Barnard alumna and a former member of the King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe as well as an avid theater-goer, I can say that CUArts was a defining part of my college experience. I slipped into the Met on so many afternoons, I bought discounted tickets to Broadway musicals and I relied on Gatsby funds to purchase the props that I collected for various KCST shows. I can’t imagine my college experience without these things and it distresses me that future generations of Barnard and Columbia students might be forced to go without.
Without the Arts Initiative, I would not have been able to afford many of the shows and events that I was able to experience. The Arts Initiative made an immense impact on my undergraduate life at Columbia.
Save CUArts!
I worked at the Arts Initiative for two years as an Arts Squad Intern. It was amazing to see the great work the Arts Initiative did to make the arts accessible for all of the students at Columbia University as well as for alumni. It would break my heart to see it suffer more spending cuts or to see it disappear…the arts are too important, the Arts Initiative is too important!
Save CUArts!
I can’t imagine my Fridays without the CU Arts Initiative emails.
It’s been a great program
Save the Arts!
Support the arts at Columbia!
I love going to the MoMa and without the free entrance through CUArts I will have to go less.
art connects people. isn’t that what life’s all about?
We need discounted tickets!
As a student and member of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, the Arts Initiative has influenced my time at Columbia greatly. It has been sad for me to witness its decline within my four years here.
Save CUArts!
CUArts acts as a creative outlet unmatched by other programs at at Columbia. It.Is.Needed.
I love museums!
save CUArts!
Save the Arts!
I think the arts play an important role at Columbia and should be supported.
I have lived in New York since I was eight years old, and due to financial circumstances I never was able to go to many shows, particularly The Phantom of the Opera which I was completely obsessed with, having read the book when I was thirteen and thereafter watched every single film adaptation I could find. Because of the Arts Initiative I was finally able to go. In the end, the Arts Initiative isn’t only about getting the student body out and about to explore the city, but about transcending economic classes and allowing even native New Yorkers to explore the city in a way that was once unreachable.
Students show more cognitive gain studying the arts and humanities than they do in sciences. That alone should make us devoted to our arts programs.
Save the Arts!
CU Arts!
Arts matter
The Arts Initiative was one of the main reasons I came to Columbia
Save the arts initiative!
Save the Arts
I loved the Arts Initiative. It let me see the Opera, get into Museums for free (including several I never would have visited otherwise) and really improved my experience of living in New York. Since my graduate school and professional plans put me outside of the NY metropolitan area, I am especially glad to have had those experiences. It was also great for my classes, particularly art history. We had several assignments that took us to the Met and I’m very glad I didn’t have to pay each time.
On a student budget, the cost of transportation alone to many museums and performances largely precludes my exploration of the cultural happenings in the city– and without discounted or free admission to museums and events provided by the Arts Initiative, I would not be able to justify the expense of these enjoyable, enriching experiences, however worthwhile. The Arts Initiative is integral to the cultural exploration that an education at Columbia ostensibly enables for its students, and without it, many students would miss out on this essential part of the New York and Columbia experience.
Supporting the arts, especially in New York City is one of the most important things Columbia should give access to its students to do. SAVE THE ARTS INITIATIVE
One of the key elements of going to school in New York City is the access to all the events that take place around the city. By not supporting the Arts Initiative, Columbia loses one of it’s primary features as a part of the city. A life without the arts is one not worth living.
Save the arts initiative!!
Life is Art. Art is Life. Save the Arts!
The Arts Initiative has been an invaluably enriching facet of my Columbia experience.
As a student at Columbia, one of the things I appreciated most about the school was the accessibility I gained into New York City: a city with so much vibrant art. Whenever I had the opportunity, between classes, athletics and socializing, I loved escaping from the campus into the city and visiting Moma or the Met to see something different and exciting.
Since I’ve graduated, I have decided to apply to the School of the Arts at Columbia, and I believe I have the CUArts initiative to thank for giving me endless access to inspiration that helped me pursue my own creativity as an undergraduate.
It is preposterous to me that a university with the financial resources of Columbia, in the artistically rich and diverse oasis of New York City, is unable to fund their ONLY successful attempt to encourage student artists. One of the biggest gifts this school can offer is the ability to connect with creative work in NYC on a budget, while making your own work in a thriving community of multi-disciplinary, intelligent, and talented peers. Cutting CUArts is an assault on this ideal niche, when it should be nurtured.
I would write more, but it would only be anger.
Columbia is in NYC. NYC is an expensive place. Remember in those admissions essays where everybody wrote the same thing about how they wanted to go to Columbia because it is in New York City. Well, the entire lure of being in a cultural center like New York is eliminated when students have to pay full price for arts events. It’s not about fairness. What you have done for the last 5-10 years is a blessing and a privilege. Keep it up, don’t direct money away from this inspiring program.
Save the Arts Initiative! It is a part of Columbia University.
If Columbia is to tout its location “in the City of New York,” it needs to engage that city, and likewise make it accessible to its students. Being able to pop into the Guggenheim or Whitney to briefly enjoy a world class show helps students in New York—whatever they study—feel like New Yorkers. And for arts students it’s simply indispensable. I urge Columbia to invest in culture, as it has in past, in a way that makes its location more than incidental.
The beauty of the Columbia education is that it is a liberal arts experience that is truly integrated into New York City. I distinctly remember sitting in the Met in front of Brueghel’s The Harvesters, forming an argument about the painting that I could not have anywhere else. I was also privileged to work on two and direct one Varsity Show in my time here. The creative opportunities afforded to Columbia undergrads are remarkable, and have shaped who I am as a person. Whether that’s directing a show, putting on an art exhibition, or simply seeing a piece of art, student or otherwise, performing arts and fine arts are essential to the Columbia education and experience. Especially for undergraduates, the Arts Initiative is integral not only to curricular education but to personal development. At Columbia, we educate the whole person. If we start educating less of the whole person, we are losing who we truly are. The Arts Initiative is high priority for many students, and it deserves an administrator who can make it high priority as well.
Save the Arts
The Arts Initiative is of utmost importance to furthering the principles of the Core Curriculum education outside of class and outside of school.
The Arts Initiative is of utmost importance to furthering the principles of the Core Curriculum education outside of class.
Columbia maintains its reputation as a leading institution partially because of its partnerships with NYC arts communities. Taking advantage of these links are a key part of my students’ experiences.
One of Columbia University’s greatest assets is its location – New York City, home to so many wonderful cultural institutions. As a graduate instructor of Art Humanities, I and my students took regular advantage of the Arts Initiative to gain access to local museums, an invaluable addition to the learning experience. To not provide students with affordable access to museums, theater, music, etc. would be nothing short of an act of negligence by the administration.
There should be no need to explain why funding CUArts is critical to the ideals that Columbia embodies.
Access to the city’s museums and cultural institutions is a fundamental part of our experience at Columbia!
Please save arts!
Through the Arts Initiative, I was able to see my first opera.
In a city where everything is expensive, the cost of ballet tickets or a museum pass is entirely unaffordable for some students, especially those whose parents cannot afford to help pay their tuition, and are therefore paying their way through college themselves. CUarts allows students to not only engage in the artistic community of New York City, but to also build their own on campus. In my own experience, I know that, had the Ballet Collaborative not been so excellent and highly proficient, I would have had to give up dancing, not by choice, but because I could not have afforded it. While the Barnard dance program is excellent, I would not have been able to afford the cost of the credits of an extra class each semestre, and neither could I pay the exorbitant price of dance classes around the city. The Ballet Collaborative allowed me to continue to engage in a fantastic community of dancers, dancing myself as well as choreographing-things I could not have done without CUarts or the Collaborative. Please reconsider the cuts you are making to the program and how they very directly effect, and put to waste, the incredible community of artists at Columbia.
If it weren’t for the CCArts program, I would have had no exposure to the arts at all while at CU. This program is essential to Columbia’s promise of a well-rounded liberal arts education.
I am part of the Chinese Students Club and we greatly appreciate your contributions to our events such as Night Market and Lunar Gala. Our club strives to bring awareness to the Chinese culture on campus and art is an extremely important facet of culture. Night Market was a beautiful to witness many student performance groups on campus embody the power of art through spoken word, song, or dance.
The Arts Initiative was crucial in my decision to commit to Columbia through Early Decision. By allowing the program to crumble, we prevent future students from taking the same leap. Columbia’s unique connection to the arts is tantamount to the Core in distinguishing our school from other universities. Don’t let Columbia become just another place to get an education.
The Art Initiative embodies so much of what it means to be a part of the Columbia community for me personally, but also embodies what it means for our university to be a true member of this city as a whole. To destroy this bond between out students, their university, and the city that we call home is to change what it means to be a part of Columbia on a much more basic level. We can’t destroy CU arts without a reevaluation of our purpose here at school and in New York City.
D
Living in New York City without regularly experiencing the arts is like scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef without goggles.
Everybody likes art
Projects like 99Columbians (http://99columbians.com/) would not be possible without the unique ecosystem of innovation and creativity that the Arts Initiative has helped create at Columbia. It’s enough to spend some time with Columbians, visit their dorm rooms, count the playbills and ticket stubs on their walls to realize that art is part of their life no matter what they do– and that it keeps them dedicated and passionate.
Save CUArts. This one really is a no-brainer.
Sincerely,
Angela Radulescu, CC’2011
One of the reasons I came to Columbia.
As a creative writing major, I like to support fellow artists both in the Columbia community and the greater NYC community. The arts initiative has made it possible to broaden my horizons and sharpen my taste in art, music, film, dance, and theater.
Annalise M. Perricone
we need the arts
Art inspires creativity. It can relieve stress, and it is very important!
Columbia is at the heart of one of the most influential artistic centers in the world: NYC. It should keep up with it.
I want more art!
I enjoy all the benefits the arts initiative provides. It encourages students to go out and experience all New York City has to offer; it would be unfortunate to see its funding cut so drastically.
Before coming here as a first-year student this year, I heard from many upperclassmen I know about how privileged and grateful they are to have had, for years, arguably the two best things in the world: Columbia University and New York City. Now that I have been here for a couple months, I can say with utmost sincerity that they are right. As a prospective art history major, the possibility of going to museums for free–some of my floormates and I have taken a trip to the Metropolitan art museum a few times already–or attending concerts and operas for discounted prices is an immense privilege to be grateful for. I sincerely hope that the Arts Initiative can continue this wonderful tradition, enriching us with all the city has to offer. I hope that our President Bollinger can recognize that it is and should be an indispensable aspect of Columbia education.
The arts initiative is one of the most important aspects of Columbia because it allows columbia to be called Columbia University in the City of New York. TIC’s 25 dollar tickets allow us to be able to further explore the city.
Makes the Arts far more accessible and affordable
Before coming here as a first-year student at Columbia College this year, I heard from many of the upperclassmen I know about how privileged and merely grateful they are to have had arguably the best two things in the world: Columbia University and New York City. Now that I have been here for a couple months, I can say with utmost confidence that they are indeed right. As a prospective art history major, the luxury to go to museums, — some of my floormates and I have already taken a trip to the Metropolitan art museum a few times — to attend concerts and operas, and
Since starting at Columbia Business School, two of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had have been with our Arts and Culture Club. The events they have promoted have allowed me to connect with other students and discuss cultural influences on art and everyday life. One such event involved participants visiting various art galleries on the Lower East Side and discussing the neighborhood history. Art provides a refreshing break from the day to day mundane activities we must engage in.
This program is important! It brings the NYC art scene to students who can’t otherwise access it.
I use the CU Arts initiative on a weekly basis, as I am a frequent art museum patron. This is one of the main draws to attending Columbia University – the fact that we have access to the arts in a way other universities cannot. We will do all we can on the GSSC end to SAVE CU ARTS!
I decided to come to Columbia around the same time I saw the Box Office in Lerner.
As an aspiring professional musician, Columbia stood out from other programs because it offered me the opportunity to learn not only from great professors, but also from the most talented artists in the world via the Arts Initiative. Columbia’s dedication to making all the artistic work in New York available to students was an essential part of my desire to attend this University, and we cannot allow that dedication to flag.
Go CUArts!
Access to and involvement in the many arts opportunities throughout NYC was a valuable part of my time at Columbia.
xx
CUArts enriches the lives of Columbians and to abandon it would be to forsake our commitment to a well-rounded education.
The Art Initiative makes New York accessible to Columbia students and brings them outside of the Morningside neighborhood. When life becomes monotonous and a cycle of going to John Jay, the dorm, and Butler over and over again, the campus almost becomes suffocating. The Arts Initiative provides a refreshing push that breaks that cycle and makes Columbia an overall richer experience. Just last week, I visited the Met to see the Andy Warhol exhibit one day, and went again two days later with my ArtHum class to discuss Greek and Medieval works. And it was all for free!
When I decided to attend Columbia Business School, a big draw for me was this university’s dedication to the arts. I intend to pursue arts management, and Columbia’s support of the arts, is an integral distinction in it’s culture and place in this city. Please do not take this away from the university. It will be a sad day and one which will impact our university’s great tradition for years to come.
Save CUArts!
CUArts is one of the best synergies that CU has with the city – why give it up?
save!
Save the arts!
The Columbia theater community has been every bit a part of what has made my Columbia experience so rewarding so far.
The arts in NYC and Columbia’s connection to them is one of the principal things that drew me to Columbia in the first place. Save CU Arts!!
Gave tickets at a discount and enabled me to appreciate the arts when it would have been price prohibitive to have gone without CUArts
The Arts Initiative was a big part of what drew me to Columbia. I wanted an education in and outside the classroom. Exposure for everyone to the great art and culture that New York City offers is what makes Columbia exceptional and unique. No student, regardless of their income, should be excluded from the opportunity to immerse and explore the richness of the arts. Other schools have their frats or eating clubs, we have New York City and we can’t deny students the chance to discover the vast amount of diversity and intellectualism it contains by making one of the strengths of a liberal arts Columbia education impossible for most to afford.
Save CU Arts!
Save CUarts!!!!!
I watched two concerts at Miller Theatre which were both phenomenal and so cheap! I also bought tickets to three more concerts because I enjoyed the ones I’ve been so incredibly much! I really hope this initiaitive doesn’t cease to give students discounted tickets and continues to broaden their cultural experience here at Columbia.
The arts are one of the principal reasons behind my decision to attend college in New York City. Columbia in the City of New York derives its identity from the vibrancy of its environment. Access to the arts and the wealth of talent found in NY are assets that few other universities can claim. By neglecting this vital resource and point of strength and pride, Columbia is not only doing a disservice to its students and community at large, but to its reputation, as well. Save CUArts.
Save CUArts! We need an environment in which student arts can develop and where the art of New York City is affordable for the student population. The TIC and other initiatives give us opportunities we could never have otherwise! Thank you!
The CU Arts Initiative has allowed me to take advantage of the thriving arts culture in New York City that I normally would not be able to afford.
If it was not CU Arts, I don’t know if I would be able to go off campus and explore the arts of New York City.
Discounting out the value and the impact the Arts Initiative has at Columbia will ultimately result in the value of Columbia education being discounted. We should think carefully.
As a student planning to study art history and the visual arts, the access to museums around the city is not only amazing, but crucial to my education and area of study.
Help CUArts!
save cu arts!
One of the reasons that I came to Columbia was for the city, specifically all of the cultural opportunities that it presents every day. I was extremely enticed by the prospect of discounted tickets and admission to museums and shows, and I feel that if the Arts Initiative continues to diminish, the school will lose a very important factor of its student life. Columbia is not just about academics, it’s about learning outside of the classroom. That is why I came here. Please reform the Arts Initiative.
As someone who has been widely involved in student groups during my past 3 years at Columbia, I have seen first hand how much our community stands to benefit from the Arts Initiative. The Gatsby fund is desperately needed by many performing groups that need additional sources of revenue. The Arts initiative does not only affect student groups, as many students take advantage of the discounted tickets and offerings available at the TIC. Although I will be graduating at the end of this year, I hope that future generations of Columbians can have the same exposure and appreciation of the arts that I have had due to the Arts Initiative.
Save CUArts!!!
It’s important that CU students, many of which are new to New York, are encouraged to go see the culture the city has to offer. That’s why we came to Columbia. Don’t take this away!
I’ve been a huge supporter of the arts initiative ever since coming to Columbia. I’ve learned about some many opportunities and been prompted to attend shows based on their commitment to providing a commitment to the arts community on the island. This is an opportunity that should be available to all generations going forward. Please save the Arts Initiative. It is tempting to cut funding to programs that seem disposable but this is not and if one thing should live on in this economic climate, it is access to the arts. Thank you.
The Gatsby Grants provided by the CU Arts Initiative are critical funding sources for productions put up by undergraduate theatre groups. The decline or disappearance of this funding would negatively affect the 100 plus students involved in undergraduate theatre every semester. Save the arts at CU!
The Arts Initiative is an important part of what connects Columbia students to New York City. What a shame it would be to let it fall away!
One of the main reasons that I came to Columbia was because of the opportunities the university offers for students to engage in and experience the arts in New York City. I hope that the Arts Initiative will be preserved as part of the Columbia experience.
Discounts!
Save CUArts!! It’s seriously one of the best things about this campus.
Save CUARTS!
Save CUArts!!
I loved the CU Arts Initiative when I was on campus– it was one of the best ways that Columbia lived up to its promise of using the resources of NY and incorporating them into our college experience.
CUArts is part of the reason I came to Columbia. It encourages exploration of both the artistic world and the New York City community, and should continue.
I’ve wanted to see Mama Mia on Broadway for years, and I was so happy that I would get the chance to do so at Columbia (at a discounted price)! The play was amazing, to say the least, and I feel that it has taken my appreciation for the arts to a new level. I want to have more experiences like this, and I want future lions to be able to experience the magic of music, art, performance and more.
One of the hallmarks of the Columbia undergrad experience.
I have not been a part of the Columbia Community for very long, but the Arts Initiative has already influenced me greatly. I think it provides such incredible opportunities and Columbia definitely would not be the same without it. It was a major reason that I chose to attend Columbia. The Arts Initiative is one of my favorite aspects of the Columbia community, and I think the above reforms are completely worth it. PLEASE take care of the Arts Initiative!
The Arts Initiative has provided countless students with the opportunity to explore New York’s rich cultural life, which has been a huge part of my education these past four years. Even more, CU Arts is instrumental in funding student theatre on campus, my major commitment here and one of the primary outlets for student creativity at Columbia. Without the Gatsby Grant, virtually all student arts groups will likely have difficulty producing new work.
The arts are so important, and even though it’s my first semester here at Barnard and Columbia, I have already experienced so much thanks to the CU Arts Initiative. Let’s keep it going strong!
I was able to attend Broadway shows at affordable prices! Living in New York my entire life, I never got the opportunity to attend a Broadway show, and it was a dream come true! Please do not cut funding!
The CU Arts Initiative is what helps make Columbia such a unique university. By providing students with a learning environment outside of the classroom students are able to experience all that NYC has to offer. Save the Arts Initiative. It is such an important program.
CUArts plays a large part in helping students interact with the city around them. Columbia prides itself on being cultured, and it needs programs to help facilitate students experiencing the world around them.
The TIC and passport to NY programs are a great way to connect students to NY and reduce the stress and bubble of Columbia. Please support these vital programs, either inside SOA or outside if necessary.
Save CUArts!!
The Arts Initiative has been where I’ve found ways to make friends. I’ve found people who are passionate.
The Arts Initiative encourages the student body to engage in New York City’s rich culture, in ways we otherwise could not afford.
I, and so many others, believe CUArts to be one of the most important and engaging programs Columbia has to offer. It is not only a gateway to life outside of school. It is a gateway to life. It is, moreover, a testament to the kind of education Columbia purports to offer. To get rid of the program or to force the program into virtual inoperability is an unfortunate sign of the future here at CU. In the end, saving the program is a political statement that must be made. If it is not, then Columbia has failed its missionary statement to teach young men and women the value and import of a liberal arts education. To fail us is to fail society.
Save the arts at Columbia!
CUArts was a huge reason I chose to come to Columbia, and I want future students to choose the same. CUArts allows students to partake in the NYC arts community, both on and off campus, while still receiving a formal academic education. This is a unique and vital program that needs to be saved.
I saw my first opera thanks to CU arts. This program enhances the experience of being in NYC for every student at Columbia.
The Arts Matter!!!
When prospective students ask me, “Why Columbia?” the first thing I say is that at Columbia, the city and all its culture become your campus, and that Columbia makes this available to you no matter your financial situation. I came to Columbia from a family of modest means in the rural Midwest. The Arts Initiative gave me access to unique art and culture that I would not have been able to afford on my own budget. I saw the Broadway musicals that I could have only read about back home. I had free admission to art museums.
Together with the Core, The Arts Initiative gives students the opportunity to experience many of the pieces of art they are studying. I remember standing in front of a Picasso at MoMA, taking notes for a paper I had due for Art Hum, and how my ideas clicked and flowed with the painting “in the flesh.” I saw details of the painting I would never be able to see on a computer screen.
One of my proudest moments as a Columbia alum was when my mother visited me in New York last month, and I took her on her first visit to The Cloisters, my favorite museum in New York. I grew to know the museum well in my time at Columbia, through Art Hum and my own frequent visits. I was able to lead my mother through the museum, tell her stories and answer her questions. Looking back, it is truly the Arts Initiative that gave me that afternoon with my mother.
Save CUArts!
Part of why I wanted to come to Columbia was to be in New York, and CU Arts gives me the opportunity to see and do things here that I would not otherwise be able to do on my student budget.
This is an amazing program, please don’t let it go!
Art is the greatest end of humanity.
The services provided by CU Arts are essential to the Columbian experience.
Art initiative is an important part of why we go to Columbia. Enjoying the city’s culture goes hand in hand with our education.
a
Please save this program!
This is incredibly important!
Save CU Arts!
To me, CUArts represents one of the hallmarks of a Columbia degree – a world class education and the opportunity to simultaneously enjoy NYC’s finest cultural offerings. To lose our autonomy within the artistic community of this city would have a tremendously negative impact on the education we receive and on the student life activities we enjoy while here at Columbia.
Laura Ye
PLEASE SAVE CUarts!!!!!!!!
The Arts Initiative is one of the best things at Columbia and enables us to actually take advantage of our location. What’s the use of being in the cultural capital if we can’t afford it? Don’t just keep it alive – keep it thriving.
museums, movies, etc. Save CU arts!
If the school wants to be able to use CUArts as a way to appeal to prospective students, then the school should want to protect it.
Save CU arts!
NYC=ART
Save CU Arts!
The ability to take advantage of the cultural bounty of New York City was one of the main reasons I chose Columbia over other schools. It would be a really big loss for me not to be able take full advantage due to financial constraints.
save CUarts!
I support
The Arts Initiative has provided me a low-cost way to experience all of the arts, but especially the visual and musical arts, in New York City. Coming here is the experience of a lifetime, and the Arts Initiative is a fantastic way to complete that experience.
Great discount tickets plays and music events. The arts initiative is a great way to make good use of the city and learn new things abut the art world
The Philolexian Society has been given a Gatsby Grant for the printing of our literary magazine, Surgam, every year for the past three years. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to make a print magazine at all.
CUArts was a huge factor in my decision to attend Columbia; don’t disappoint!
CU Arts brings unity through Art. It’s an important part of college life and I’d hate to see it go.
My love for the arts is a major reason that I stayed in New York for school. It’s already hard enough to find the time and the money to immerse yourself in the rich culture New York has to offer, without the loss of the Arts Initiative.
There seems to be an impression that the arts are somehow supplementary to the educational experience; this is not true. They are essential.
Save CUArts!
To me, New York City is synonymous with the arts, and thus CU Arts. You can’t have one without the other.
.
It’s no secret that Columbia can be a stressful and work heavy place, and this makes it hard for students to get off campus. CUArts motivates students to go explore New York City and it promotes a better lifestyle for students because it allows us to relieve our stress by participating in artistic events around the city. On campus, CUArts allows students to have a creative outlet and express their own art through the invaluable support of their university and it also allows students to experience the art of their peers, making the campus a warmer environment where we can get to know each other and relieve stress by participating in artistic events put on but other students.
CUArts has allowed me to fully appreciate New York City by making operas, museums, Broadway shows and movies an affordable experience. For LitHum, I was able to go to museums and even a performance of Medea, all paid for by the University. This brought to life the ancient texts we were reading in class. Not to mention the visit my Art Hum class had to the Met. CUArts also supports me personally in my participation with Sabor, Columbia’s Latin Dance Troupe, by giving us a Gatsby Grant. It is appalling to imagine that Columbia University, one of the most respected academic institutions in this city, would neglect to give its students the opportunity to participate in this cultural and artistic capital and ignore the artistic initiatives of its students on campus.
CU Arts is an important part of the Columbia experience, and should be preserved.
I came to Columbia for New York City, and CUArts gave me New York City. I would be sad to see it go.
I think it goes without saying that CU Arts provides an indelible service to the Columbia community. Without this program, I would never have secured enough funds to shoot a short film on campus in Spring 2011. We must keep it around for generations to come.
The Arts initiative was a big part of my decision to come to Columbia. Since then, it has shaped the way I understood and interacted with both this school and the city. Please help to save this incredible part of the Columbia experience!
I am a part of the arts and I love it so much. It can’t go away. It’s what keeps me sane.
CU Arts embodies a fundamental part of what the Core and Columbia should stand for. Save it.
The best program at Columbia.
CUARTS as allowed me to experience so much of the richness of New York artistic culture that would have impossible otherwise. Many of the events I have been able to attend because of cuarts are among my favorite memories of college, and have been key in my decision to pursue a career in the arts world. cuarts is invaluable.
i <3 CU arts !
CU Arts is an incredibly important part of the Columbia experience that deserves our full allegiance and support.
Save CU Arts!
Rowan Swanson
Please please save the arts!!
Save CU Arts!
Columbia’s incredible effort to make the artistic life of New York accessible to its students has become central to our education. The theoretical preparation Columbia gives us for engaging and understanding the artistic world around us would lose its essential practical implications without the Arts Initiative. I loved seeing Rigoletto as a reinforcement of what I learned in Italian class. I learned on a sensorial level the concepts discussed in Shapiro’s Shakespeare class when I actually got my hands on a ticket and saw a show. The Arts Initiative made these essential academic experiences possible. My education at Columbia would not be the same without it.
Even though I’m a freshmen, the Arts Initiative was a HUGE part of the reason I chose to attend Columbia! So far, I have gone to the Modern Museum of Art and have made multiple visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; places I thought I would never be able to profoundly experience.
This is New York City and the Columbia Arts Initiative is important because it allows students to become immersed in all of the rich culture that New York has to offer. In this way, I believe it is just as important to the Columbia education as the the Core Curriculum! After all, what separates Columbia from other colleges and other Ivy League universities, is its fantastic inclusion of the Arts.
No other school is like Columbia. Please, don’t take away what makes our school so amazing.
Save CU Arts!
Art is a fundamental part of our education!
Being a part of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative was the best part of my Columbia education, and I believe that the school has an obligation to fully support its place on campus. Without the performing and leadership opportunities I had with CBC, I would not be where I am today. Current and future students deserve to have the same quality of experiences. Gatsby funding and Miller Theatre’s support are imperative.
This past week, a friend and I went to see the glorious Esparanza Spalding at the Apollo Theater. What an incredible, once in a lifetime experience! I have only CUArts to thank, and not only for this onetime experience. Since coming to New York three years ago, I’ve seen Chris Rock at his Broadway debut, KT Tunstall at Webster Hall during her international tour. I’ve gone to the MoMA and spent hours sitting in front of Monet’s water lilies without feeling like I was not getting full value out of an exorbitantly priced ticket- because thanks to CU Arts, I did all of these things for free. I chose to go to school in the city specifically because of the thriving arts culture, but without CUArts this would NOT have been possible for me. CUArts has opened an incredible amount of doors for me and I cannot imagine my college experience without the opportunities this Initiative has provided for me. I hope for future generations of Columbia University students that this initiative continues to provide such opportunities!
One of Columbia’s most unique features! Don’t do away with it. New York City is all about arts/culture and Columbia provides us with ways to experience it.
Save the arts!
Creativity is the stimulus for understanding!
One of the reasons that I am a student at Columbia is because of the ballet collaborative. Unlike performances that come out of the other university departments, eg. Theater and music, the collaborative is a self-run extra curricular that puts together performances of very high quality. Their budget is so minimal, but they have attracted the attention if the dance world wih their talent and abilities. To take away the Miller Theater would threaten their credibility and existence. I hope something can be resolved and they can continue to perform in their home, the Miller Theater.
I love this school because of the arts. Please don’t take it away!
I am disheartened. As CBC’s artistic director last year, I saw firsthand how difficult it is for arts groups and programs to thrive on campus. The Arts Initiative deserves better funding and support, for the arts are not only essential to a liberal arts education but also for the enrichment of one’s own life.
SAVE CU ARTS!!
SAVE CUARTS!!!
I have been bellydancing for about eight years and through the CUArts I have been able to continue into college. We have been able to buy the necessary costumes and have fantastic performances due to the support we get from the Arts initiative.
CUArts is by far one of my favorite things about Columbia, and one of the first things I tell prospective students about when they ask me about the school. Please keep it alive and strong.
Please keep Columbia’s Art’s Initiative!!
The arts in New York and Columbia are one of the biggest reasons I (and many friends) came here in the first place. Art makes life worth living
Keep creativity alive!!
I am an officer in the arts and culture club at Columbia Business School. Arts have been integral to my life as a student there.
As a freshman, the only time I’ve used CU Arts was to get access to free museums, but I’d also wanted to go to a Broadway shows whenever I got the chance. It would be a shame if the discounts were removed; I would not even think about anything pricier than thirty dollars in the near future.
The student arts at Columbia have been the highlight of my experience here, and have motivated me to pursue it as my life’s work. Please don’t take away all the wonderful resources that allow your students to create! Save the arts!
I got to see Wicked for free freshman year! And, I made friends in the process. Save the arts!
Save the arts!
We can’t let such a great program go downhill like it is!
Save the arts!!
I really wish students could take advantage of cheap Broadway tickets like I was excited to do before coming to campus and realizing they weren’t actually $25. For its small size, CUArts can have an unbelievably positive impact on student’s experiences and I just hope it can receive the necessary attention to regrow to the success it has seen in the past.
SAVE CU ARTS!!!
Save the arts!
Save the arts!
Save CU Arts!
As a science major, I cannot underscore the importance of the Arts Initiative and the unique/refreshing dimension it has added to my experience at Columbia.
Save the arts!
Creative presence on campus!
Save the arts!!
Please give CU Arts the funding and staff it deserves!
SAVE THE ARTS
I really think keeping the arts funding is important. The enrichment through participating in visual and performance arts has expanded my involvement and enjoyment at the University, and having the opportunity to see the arts in the city is more fulfilling than ever. Some of these events are really expensive in the city, and though it is available easily through transportation, it is not always the most affordable options. Art feeds the soul, it fills our emptiness. Save our souls!
The Arts Intiative is much needed help for throwing our annual bhangra showcase on Columbia’s campus called Bhangra in the Heights.
The Inititative allows us to display our art form to our campus and bring bhangra to hte greater Columbia community.
Save CUarts!!
Save the Arts!
Save CUArts!
Allows me to see what talents Columbia students exhibit
The Arts Initiative is crucial to the University’s commitment to value and promote the arts in New York City.
I choose Columbia because I saw a school that seemed to deeply care about the arts and the power they have in a educational atmosphere. The Arts Initiative has made it possible for me both to practice arts on campus and immerse myself in the arts of others (of both fellow students and those in New York at large). I cannot imagine this resource disappearing, and while I don’t see that happening, I also see amazing potential for this organization if some of the enthusiasm with which it was founded was brought back to life.
I It has given me many opportunities to explore the city with my friends, and as a first year RA has allowed me to have floor programs downtown at more affordable prices to increase participation!
This is a no brainer.
As attested by members of the entire Columbia community, current students and seasoned alumni alike, the Initiative is one of Columbia’s most defining, illustrious programs.
Frankly, to reduce access to the arts at Columbia is to trivialize the indispensable importance of the arts in our personal lives, in this university, in New York City, in our culture.
As a student who has been involved in theatre at Columbia and as an individual who more generally realizes her passion in the visual arts, acting, and music, I humbly ask the administration to reconsider giving more funding to this valuable resource.
The Initiative, after all, exists to benefit us all. Yes, it is for the entrepreneurial student artist who dreams to showcase her work of art for the Columbia community. It is for the seasoned musician to gain inspiration, make connections, perform, and cultivate his craft. But it is also for the conventional student who simply finds passion, relief, an escape when engaging with these productions.
As a university that prides itself in providing a holistic learning experience for its students, the arts must not be overlooked. For many, the arts are what identify us and our future pursuits; thus, undoubtedly, the initiative becomes an integral facet of our college careers. For many more, the arts are what give us meaning and inspiration and are what connect us to our fellow students and this city. This is the connection and intellectual development that Columbia so uniquely promotes.
Please don’t forsake the Arts Initiative, for we would then be forsaking something so incredibly essential to our identities as Columbia students.
Save the arts!
Save the arts!
One of the main pulls for me when deciding on Barnard was the dedication that it and Columbia have to finding ways for students to truly interact with the city, I feel that one of the main ways the University achieves this is through CUArts. This Initiative is feeding our cultural curiosity, a fact which makes it just as important ( or even more important) as many of the classes we’ll take here over four years.
CUArts is the only university support that the arts here at Columbia receive, and to limit its budget is to effectively cut the appeal of Columbia to intelligent, artistic individuals. The artistic community here is already not everything it could be; don’t make it worse or cut some of the only staff on campus who actively care about that fact.
As a college student, it’s difficult to take advantage of NYC’s many cultural offerings without the resources of the Arts Initiative. I’ve seen many shows and museums that I couldn’t have otherwise.
Please save the Arts Initiative
“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
Nietzsche knew what he was talking about. Let’s not disappoint him. Keep music and art alive at Columbia. Support CU Arts!
As a Columbia student, I have been able to attend many performances and exhibits in the city at an affordable rate. As a member of CU Bellydance, I have benefited from the Gatsby Grant (our troupe budget would not be sufficient to support of annual productions otherwise) and from the staff at CU Arts, which has been an integral part of all CU Bellydance shows.
Countless free entries into the country’s greatest art museums and discounted movie screenings making the best of the city accessible to all students.
Through the Arts Initiative, I have been exposed to the artistic side of NYC: museums, theater, music, and more. CUArts has also coordinated grants for undergraduate performing arts, and allowed members of this campus community to publicize our events to the larger Columbia community. Maintaining support of arts on campus and enabling students access to arts throughout the city go hand in hand, fostering an appreciation of the vibrant art culture of our city as well as creative the endeavors of our classmates.
PLEASE I BEG YOU. DO SOMETHING. SAVE THE CU ARTS INITIATIVE.
Save the arts!
The Arts Initiative is essential for student programming and using the city as a classroom.
I bought broadway show tickets from cuarts for some times, and I hold it is extremely good for students to have a chance to appreciate arts.
Columbia New Poetry was the first group I joined my freshman year, and it has really enhanced my college experience! Helping create an issue of poetry by selecting works from my fellow students has made me feel more attached to the community, by connecting writers and artists throughout campus. New Poetry’s main source of funding is Gatsby, and we need to keep this issue coming! We need Gatsby!
The Arts Initiative has MADE my experience going to Columbia, and is truly what makes Columbia unlike any other undergraduate experience in the country.
As an Art History major, having free access to a comprehensive number of art museums has been an extremely valuable resource as it has enhanced my academic experience by being able to view art pieces in person and in a curated setting. The arts at Columbia has been a major part of my college experience as I am very involved in Orchesis: a dance group. Also, I have been enjoying taking the Columbia Ballet Collaborative’s free classes, and it is really unfortunate that there is a large possibility that they will no longer be able to perform at Miller.
It would be a shame to lose the Arts Initiative. On the one hand, access to New York’s arts community is a benefit that deepens the ties between Columbia students and the city and world around them. On the other hand, the Arts Initiative, through the Gatsby Grant, plays a vital role in funding student artistic endeavors. One of clubs I am involved with has received Gatsby grants for the past couple years, and without them we would be unable to make ends meet each year.
One of the reasons our daughter chose to go to Barnard was the CUArts program, so she could afford to enjoy the theater and museums. Our son, who was three years ahead of her, enjoyed many opportunities that are no longer available. Please do all you can to restore CUArts to the great program that it was. Thank you!
Save the arts initiative
The CU Arts Initiative has helped pay for me to go to plays and operas with my classes. What’s the point of having a University in New York if students aren’t engaging with the cultural resources we have here?
Amazing way to discover and explore NYC. Great way to procrastinate, too (I don’t even want to think about the amount of time I’ve spent on the CUArts website, browsing through events and trying to decide what I wanted to do). Don’t take away such an important part of going to Columbia and living in the City!!
Columbia needs the arts!
I LOVE CUARTS!
The Arts Initiative has both supported my performing group and has allowed me to experience a wide variety of performances around New York, vastly enhancing my Columbia experience.
Save CUArts!
Part of going to Columbia is experiencing New York as a New Yorker, and CU Arts gives students that opportunity. It was a important part of my education and life at Columbia.
SAVE THE ARTS
The Arts Initiative is a great way for students to gain exposure to the arts culture of NYC beyond what can be taught in a classroom.
As Columbians, we should remain steadfast in our commitment to the arts.
J
Art is what I came to NYC for! I’ve already heard twice this semester “Columbia students no longer get free tickets.” That’s depressing.
Save the Arts Initiative!
Save our culture. Save the arts.
The Arts Initiative has opened my eyes to much artistic beauty.
such a great asset to the Columbia experience, worth keeping around.
The Arts Initiative and affiliate programs were vital– I repeat, VITAL — to my four years as an undergraduate at Columbia and my experience and career opportunities since. I had a wealth of opportunities, ranging from using Gatsby grants to produce with NOMADS to seeing Alan Rickman in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman at BAM with Professor Austin E. Quigley. As an arts administrator, arts educator, and performer in the DC Metro area, I insist that the administration continue to support the necessary (and fantastic) functions of Columbia Arts Initiative.
Please restore this program to the great heights it once reached!
Our “Columbia experience” is incomplete without the arts. SAVE CUARTS!
SAVE THE ARTS
The CUArts Initiative is an indispensable part of going to school in New York City. We can’t have the full Columbia experience without experiencing the city, and the Arts Initiative makes that possible.
Passport to Columbia directly leads to undergraduate students getting out of the M’side bubble and out into the city. Please restore funding so that we can again adore these fabulous museums.
Part of going to school in such a great city is the amazing cultural experience. If Columbia is going to advertise that as a benefit of going to school here, then the ability to attend arts events shouldn’t be determined by each student’s financial ability, but rather by our collective status as Columbia students.
One of the reasons I came to Columbia was the chance to experience all of NYC’s arts life.
My ability to experience the culture that New York City has to offer is directly related to the succes of this program. And I think that many students feel the same way too. I hope that in the future, the CU Arts Initiative can give students an even greater connection with the great culture that New York City has to offer.
An irreplaceable presence and resource on this campus for the Columbia Community!
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Columbia owes this to the students!
Save the Arts!
Pushes me to step outside the Columbia bubble and gives me the opportunity to experience cultural events I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. Experiencing new york is part of the Columbia identity, taking away the arts initiative takes away a part of what is inherently Columbia
Accessibility to cultural events in NYC is one of the most unique and important things Columbia can offer its students.
This is why we go to school in NYC!
One of the greatest things about being at Columbia is being in New York and experiencing all that the city has to offer. Arts Initiative is an amazing program that helps Columbia students do that. I have loved going to art museums and shows and hope that future Columbia students will get to do the same!
CUArts has helped me discover a network of established musical groups on campus in a single directory. Student bands would normally fall through the cracks of this place’s “esteemed” academia if it weren’t for the CUArts initiative.
As a musician, the CU arts and the arts in general are essential for my well-being.
The arts are an integral part of education. Columbia, as a provider of education, should be working to become a more active provider of access to the arts.
As a PhD student in the Dept. of Art History & Archaeology, the CUArts Program has become a profoundly important aspect of my life at Columbia. I take constant advantage of the Museum Passport, visiting at least one museum exhibition a week – sometimes as many as two or three. And as a lecturer in the Core, the ability of my Art Humanities students to attend arts events around NYCity and join me for tours of the Metropolitan, Hispanic Society of America, MoMA, etc., is an absolutely integral portion of the success of my course.
Losing the Whitney, Frick, and Guggenheim Museums in recent years has been bad enough. But please don’t take the others away as well. To do so would mean to diminish severely both the undergraduate and graduate educational experience at Columbia. I am a proud and grateful member of our community, and I know that the campus is full of likeminded people. However, I also know that many students who are admitted each year to Columbia have their pick among several top-notch universities. But its because Columbia is located in the middle of New York that the decision these students face has often been made easier. The CUArts program is essential to the Universities mission and identity.
I was lucky enough to participate in the Columbia University Vagina Monologues last year, an event the Arts Initiative helped make possible with their funding. This event was incredibly meaningful to me, and I hope/believe that it was a valuable contribution to the larger Columbia community as well. The arts are an indispensable part of any community, especially so in communities focused on education, for true learning requires an active engagement with our creative and expressive sides, something the Arts Initiative works hard to provide us access to.
The Arts Initiative’s programming was critical to my holistic intellectual, academic, and artistic development at Columbia.
save the arts!
Has never let me bored! There’s always something to do and I have been able to look at CU Arts for a variety of events.
This was legitimately part of the reason I was so determined to go to school in NYC
Please save CUArts!! Having free or discounted access to the arts is something that every Columbian should value. The EARTH without ART is just EH.
I love the arts community at CU and this school would be less without it.
The arts initiative was the last webpage I looked at before I sent in my deposit.
Part of the reason I ultimately decided to come to Columbia was because of its vibrant arts community and the opportunity to go out into New York (a mecca for the arts) and experience art. Save CUArts, it’s an amazing resource for the university community and part of what makes Columbia unique!
This is why you go to school in NYC!
Save this incredible opportunity for future and current Columbians!
I can say in full honesty that the Arts Initiative was one of the main reasons Columbia was my first choice of schools. As someone who aspires to work in theater and film, I knew the city offered the best opportunities for exploring those areas of the arts, though that alone was not enough; I would never be able to afford tickets and memberships to the many institutions and events I have attended over the past two years at their regular price. The Arts Initiative gave me access to these things and enriched my experience of this school and city immensely. A Gatsby grant allowed me to direct a theatrical performance I had been planning for a year; without that support all the hard work would have been for naught. It is saddening to think that one of the greatest advantages of Columbia University has been allowed to go to waste. I am signing in the hopes that future students will enjoy the opportunities I enjoyed and even more, and that they will come to this institution not to stay isolated in an academic acropolis but rather to engage in and connect with the thriving arts scene this city and campus has to offer.
Go Arts!
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
Michelangelo
SAVE THE ARTS!
Every time I’ve tried to go onto the arts initiative website to find events in the city and even on campus, I’ve found it to be filled with irrelevant ongoing exhibits and expensive shows out of my price range. To hear about problems with the CBC and decreased funding makes the CU Arts Initiative even more irrelevant to me as a student.
The arts are not an isolated part of anybody’s life -they shape our decisions, actions and thoughts at every step of our development. Columbia’s purported commitment to enriching its students’ understanding and conscientiousness fundamentally relies on unwavering support of the arts.
In other words, this is New York City, the university has the money: Columbia, come through!
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Let CUARTS stay. We need more of it.
Pooja Yatin Patel
Great program- has definitely impacted my experience in NYC.
This is one of the things that MAKES Columbia what it is! You can’t take this out!!
As an art history and architecture major, the Arts Initiative has been a very integral part of my intellectual growth at college. There have been so many instances where I could go to MoMA to look at a single painting or show without having to worry about the $25 fee. I could go on and on about how awesome CU Arts is. Save the arts!
Definitely one of things that made me fall in love with Columbia. The culture of the city is probably as important here as the education that the school provides.
SAVE CUARTS!
I won’t be able to take advantage of all this city has to offer without it.
Over the past four years, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to benefit from CU Arts programming and services for members of the Columbia community. At the information for accepted students session in the summer of 2008 before I attended Columbia, the emphasis on the opportunities that CU Arts would provide to me as a student at Columbia University in New York City. The first week of my freshman year, my class was thrown an after-hours evening party at the Met where we could browse the Antiquities section as we opened the first section of Lit Hum focusing on the Greek and Roman works.
Over the next four years, I had the pleasure of having visited museums for free through Passport to NY, attending plays and arts events assigned to my CC class ad EALAC classes through ArtsLink, and viewing many student performances and reading many student publications that would not have been possible without financial and mentoring support from the Gatsby Grant program and the CU Arts staff. Throughout all of this, the work of the staff, especialy Carolyn Spectre, in incorporating student, faculty, and alumni voices in setting the direction for CU Arts was inseperable from what made those programs great.
Sadly, I have also had the misfortune of watching the capacity and scope of CU Arts decline over the past two years. Most worrisome, in addition to losing a full-time director solely responsible for CU Arts, is that CU Arts has lost the willingness to listen to and incorporate the feedback from the constituents it serves: the students, faculty, and alumni of Columbia. In order to ensure that the magical experiences of my first two years can once again be experienced by the Columbia community, I urge President Bollinger and Dean Becker to restore funding CU Arts, hire a full-time director for CU Arts, and move CU Arts to an administrative body that better reflects its relationship and obligations to the Columbia community.
Barry Weinberg
Save CUArts! I so appreciated the opportunity to see a number of broadway shows (fully subsidized through a lottery), on campus productions and even off broadway plays with my Lit Hum classmates. I wish the next generation of Columbians the same!
Save CUArts! I so appreciated the opportunity to see a number of broadway shows (fully subsidized through a lottery), on campus productions and even off broadway plays with my Lit Hum classmates. I wish the next generation of Columbians the same.
CUArts was a huge part of my undergraduate experience, granting me incredible opportunities to see shows and particularly operas that would otherwise have been outside of my price range. I would hate to see this program discontinued for future Columbians.
As an alum, I still look to the Arts Initiative to check out the decent and fairly priced events around the city. Columbia would not be the same without this institution; it’s one of the things I was most proud of and bragged about constantly to my other city dwelling friends. In fact, the discounted movie tickets often made our Saturday nights.
Students really utilize the opportunities given by CUArts. It’s a vital part of student life!
Save the Arts Initiative! It’s an important part of our community as Columbia students and should be supported as much as possible.
I’m looking forward to attending “The Marriage of Figaro” with my music hum class in a few weeks. Without these valuable opportunities, how can students be expected to easily take advantage of everything New York has to offer?
The Arts Initiative provides needed support to so many student theatre projects – the community wouldn’t thrive without it.
Save the arts!
The vibrant arts community at Columbia was one of the main reasons I chose to come here. So much of the student body is involved in the arts in some way, and the Arts Initiative itself, as well the performing groups it enables, offer such a public and positive reflection of the university that the administration simply can’t afford to ignore its impact. The arts are constantly under attack everywhere else in the country; lets not allow that to be true for Columbia as well.
I saw West Side Story, Sleep No More, the opera Aida and many other fantastic theater and music pieces because of CU Arts Initiative. Columbia would be much worse off without it.
Glad to know that there is an opportunity to see additional shows and audition at Columbia. I look forward to seeing more shows!
CU Arts has allowed me to participate in the CMTS production of HAIR as Assistant Director. It’s let me learn and grow and make a ton of amazing friends within the tribe, school wouldn’t be the same without it! Save CU Arts!
Save the arts!
The arts are an integral part of who we are. As a school in NYC, if we lose sight of how important the arts are to us, how can we have hope that the arts will ever have that special role in other places? Please let the initiative continue to provide that experience for us.
Through CUArts, I am easily able to explore the rich cultures of New York City. I would hate for that opportunity to be reduced or taken away from me, my peers, and future students.
I can’t imagine Columbia or NYC without the increased access to the arts.
I would not have had the chance to participate in such amazing activities on campus and make a lot of the friends I now have without CU Arts!
Being connected to the arts in the city is one of the most valuable assets of a Columbia student. Please don’t take it away from us!
I really appreciate CU Arts for the opportunities it has given me to see concerts and events I wouldn’t have been able to afford without it. New York is a beautiful place, and it is important for students to be encouraged to see it!
My Columbia experience has been significantly improved by the programming and support of the Arts Initiative.
As a SEAS student, the CUArts was a wonderful outlet for me to exercise my right-brain in between problem sets. It is an indispensable part of the Columbia and NYC experience and ending it will be a disservice to all future students.
CUArts is single-handedly responsible for allowing me to freely access NYC’s fine arts museums and making me reconsider my previous sentiments regarding the arts and the humanities in general. Also, understanding NYC and its culture should be and is one of the hallmarks of a Columbian education, and CUArts definitely helps students do so.
CU’s Arts Initiative supports so many events on campus that are what we, the students, look forward to as fun breaks from the crazy academic stress here at Columbia University. Without CU Arts Initiative, events on campus would not be as developed or successful as they are. Taking away funds from the Arts Initiative would take away a huge integral part of the Columbia University student’s experience. Help us keep the Arts Initiative the way it is today!
The Arts Initiative helps me get access to New York City’s venues and events that I otherwise would not be so inclined to afford in its full price.
The Arts Initiative makes the vibrant art world of New York City accessible to Columbia and Barnard students. This program is valuable and needs continued support.
Columbia, being in New York, is a part of one of the major cultural and artistic capitals in the world. This is one of the reasons many students came to Columbia, and this would be unfair for those students who came to explore the arts of New York. The arts should still be strongly represented.
CU Arts has supported the only photography club, Columbia University Photography Society in almost every one of our events. It has helped us put on competitions and exhibitions to display the artistic talent of our Columbia community.
Save the arts!
The Arts Initiative provides a multitude of opportunities to students at Columbia. It allows us to fully experience what New York City has to offer, and it is therefore of utmost importance to save!!!
The Arts initiatives at Columbia are one of the things that makes this school such a unique place. Columbia has always advertised its location in NYC as one which allows students to experience the enormous amount of cultural opportunities in the city. The Arts initiatives are important gateways to these opportunities and an irreplaceable aspect of the Columbia education/experience.
People here work so much – if we don’t have arts – everyone is going to go crazy.
CUArts has really helped me explore what NYC and our campus has to offer. This is a vital part of who we are as Columbians.
I believe that participating in the artistic community is an intrinsic part of the New York, and ultimately the Columbia, experience.
CUArts have done a lot to improve the livelihood on campus and even off campus, as well as giving us students the chance to experience many of the perks of NYC, involving arts.
I remember coming to New York City as a freshman from Minnesota, and being amazed at the breadth of New York shows and museums Columbia offered to its students at a discounted rate. CU Arts allowed me to explore New York on a budget, and definitely encouraged such discovery to take place. Now as a senior, I’m saddened that future Columbians will get a watered down version of CU Arts, and won’t be able to take full advantage of what the city offers in the same way I was able to.
Even before I applied to Columbia, I had somehow gotten on the Arts Initiative email list from my campus visit. Every week, it showed me how rich with art NYC and Columbia is, which was in the end a huge element of my decision to come here. Keep these artistic opportunities alive!
To be immersed in the arts is to be immersed in society. To withdraw from the arts and culture is to disengage from the society you are inextricably linked to. Restore the Arts Initiative to its former glory!
The Arts Initiative at Columbia has graciously supported our programming on campus! We are incredibly thankful for their support and their support in general for representing arts on campus.
So many students chose Columbia in part so that we could take advantage of the arts in NYC!This should not be pushed to the side!
I just became a part of the Columbia community this last September, and in those brief two months, the Arts Initiative has provided me with countless opportunities to purse my interests in theatre as well as practical things, such as getting a job with the Arts Initiative-sponsored, TIC. Please do not cut more of the arts which are so valuable to the continuing Columbia’s amazing diverse community.
We need arts because we are humans.
I love the Arts Initiative. I was wondering why the number of options for students to go off-campus and see broadway shows and museums have dwindled. There’s so much students can take advantage of, and it would be such a shame to see that go! I was able to see wicked, the heights, and many other shows at a cheaper price, and it was worth every dollar. It’s harder when students have to pay double in order to see the show, and it would mean a lot to me at least to have these options back.
CUArts, as it was during my time as an undergraduate, was a fundamental piece of the specifically Columbian experience. Without it, Columbia would not be the same and the focus on a complete education would be altered.
I think CUArts is an integral part of campus life that has benefited everyone in the community since its inception. It would be sad to see such an important program go away due to lack of funding and attention.
Save the arts!
As a freshman who hopes to pursue a career in the arts, this initiative is one of the only ways I can pursue that dream. We can’t be like everyone else. As a liberal arts institution we have a duty to honor and preserve the arts!
Art is existence. Save that for us.
The arts are a valuable part of the human experience. They allow us to communicate with our fellow man in ways that aren’t possible through ordinary means. Art raises discourse regarding the human condition and thus is an integral part of the Columbia Community.
One of the most exciting parts about coming to Columbia is the opportunity to be a part of the arts in NYC. Please keep this program going strong!
Full support — CUarts gave me greater access a variety of artistic venues in NYC as an undergrad moving to NYC and it would be a shame to see that privilege go.
The arts initiative is part of what makes Columbia so great and appealing. Without affordable access to the unbelievable cultural aspects of the city, it certainly loses it’s appeal. Save the arts!
It is extremely disheartening to learn about the disconnect between how Columbia advertizes itself as a university with New York City for its campus and Broadway, museums, and concerts all within reach and Columbia’s lack of focus on and efforts to support the Arts Initiative. If Columbia wants to continue billing all that New York has to offer as compliments and resources to the university and its students, then making them accessible to students needs to be a priority. If you’re going to talk the talk then you gotta walk the walk!
Save the arts!
The accessibility of New York’s cultural offerings through the Arts Initiative is a huge part of the Columbia experience. I can’t overstate how much this access has enriched my life here.
CUarts without a doubt is a very important part of the CU life.
Save the arts!
CU Arts Initiative is a great way for students to take advantage of living in NYC. Please save it.
The Arts Initiative fosters countless opportunities for everyone on campus. I find it difficult to imagine that it hasn’t positively impacted someone in some way.
This was an important reason for me coming to Columbia in the first place and it would be a real shame to see it go.
Save the arts!
Please save the CU Arts initiative!
Out of ANY of the organizations that support student life at Columbia, the Arts Initiative is THE most essential. To think that the Arts Initiative is facing cuts, while other organizations that don’t even have a real purpose exist– it’s baffling. What is Columbia without accessible access to the arts of New York City? Why did so many of us choose to come to Columbia over other schools? Save the Arts; it’s one of the only genuinely good programs that exist.
Save the arts!
Save the arts!
Arts & education go hand in hand.
I’ve been able to experience so many more events and do so much more of what I wanted to as a student “in New York” – why I came to Columbia – than what I would have been able to otherwise.
CU Arts lets us experience the city outside of campus like real residents of New York. Please don’t take that away from us!
The Arts Initiative is an institution of Columbia and should be treated as such!
It is needed. Don’t promote if you’re not going to support it, Columbia.
Save the Arts!
The arts keep us sane in the craziness that is college; save CU arts!
The Arts Initiative has enabled me to explore many of this city’s great resources while providing support for the artistic endeavors on campus enjoyed by all in the Columbia community.
CU Arts has provided my group of friends with many opportunities to explore culture in New York City.
Because of the Arts Initiative, I was able to visit the Met for free.
Writing as an electrical engineering student, I cannot overstate the importance of the Arts during my education at Columbia. Whether it has been the opportunity to attend an amazing Broadway performance of Wicked or the privilege of enjoying a performance by my talented peers in the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, the Arts Initiative is invaluable. Please save the arts; Columbia’s community needs your support.
Save the arts!
CUArts is a huge part of the Columbia experience. Let’s return to the passion and drive that inspired CUArts.
The Arts Initiative has enabled me to take advantage what New York City has to offer.
Save the arts!
I am a ballet dancer involved in Columbia Ballet Collaborative and Orchesis. The main reasons I came to Columbia was because of these clubs because dance is a major part of my life.
At the epicenter of the artistic world, it makes perfect sense that Columbia should support my intellectual growth through the arts. With only 2 months of Columbia under-my-belt, I have found a nurturing, collaborative, and supportive community through the arts. I am confident that the university will recognize and support me and the many other arts-oriented students. Many of the admissions packets stressed how Columbia students grew as much outside of the classroom as they did inside of it. I have already experienced this and I hope that I can continue this equally important aspect of my education.
The Arts Initiative was one of many attractions about coming to Columbia. Living in NYC won’t be half as enjoyable without the access to the arts provided by CUArts.
I believe that the Arts initiative is a large draw to students choosing which college they would like to attend.
SAVE THE ARTS!
Save the Arts!
Columbia’s position in New York, an artistic and cultural capital, is part of what makes us such a unique and exciting campus. Losing that means risking our identity, our community, and (for students involved intimately with the arts) our family. All Columbia students benefit from the Arts Initative; all Columbia students will be hurt more and more as it continues to shrink.
My involvement in the arts at Columbia has been exponentially more formative than anything I have experienced in a classroom. To rob students of a purer understanding of and relationship with the arts fundamentally goes against Columbia’s mantra as an institution rooted in the opportunities and experiences of New York City.
There is no excuse for this slashing of funds for a program that has in part come to define the undergraduate experience at Columbia for so many.
SAVE THE ARTS.
Please save the arts!
Save the arts initiative! I like going to plays and operas and concerts, and the arts initiative can make those things affordable.
I <3 CUArts!
If Columbia truly is dedicated to the arts and educating the students about culture and diversity, the CUArts Initiative must survive. This initiative allows members of the Columbia community to experience the fine arts at an accessible price. Without it, many people would lose the ability to see masterpieces of musical, theatrical, and artistic magnificence. As a university in one of the most cultured cities in the world, the students and faculty would be severely disadvantaged if they are deprived of participating in and viewing such activities and exhibits. Save the arts!
In my short time here as a freshman, CU Arts has already exposed me to so many amazing aspects of art that I never got to experience in high school. Continue its funding!!!
The Arts Initiative has allowed me to experience the world in a way I would have never thought possible, all from New York City.
Save the arts! I am trying to watch more operas and the Arts Initiative makes them affordable.
As a film student the Arts Initiative plays a heavy role in my experience here at Columbia University. Please reform CUArts so the program continues to benefit all students in the best ways possible.
The Arts Initiative has touched my life in many ways, from freshman year being a passive audience member of Passport Columbia to my experience as an actor in XMAS 6. As a music major, I especially appreciate it because I get to experience the music I’m studying without $100 tickets that I could not afford. Thank you so much Arts Initiative! Please keep this around.
I think that this is a shame since Columbia attracts so many people to come here for college on this basis yet we are cutting it down severely. Please do not do it! Thanks!
As a Music major with the goal of becoming a professor, I cherish these four years opportunities afforded by being an undergraduate here in New York City. Although my on-campus experiences with music have been superb (co-composing the Varsity Show, singing in Uptown Vocal, and taking excellent courses), I would appreciate continued support, support, and visibility of off-campus arts events.
The Arts Initiative has given me access to New York in a way I wouldn’t be able to afford on a college student’s budget. One of the reasons I came to Columbia was to be in this city, so having the resources of museums and performances is a fundamental part of that experience. Thank you for saving the arts!
The Arts Initiative allowed me to see tons of theater and film around the city that would otherwise have been unaffordable to me. Free access to MOMA alone accounted for probably hundreds of movie visits, and subsidized class trips to theater events were a highlight of my Columbia experience.
I was one of the first-ever student staffers at the TIC; I worked there for its first four years of life. As a result, the AI in general and the TIC specifically shaped my time at Columbia (and even afterward!) more than almost anything else. As a musician, I was already involved in the arts on and off campus; the TIC helped me find some incredible off-campus performances (and often facilitated my attendance: I wouldn’t have been to nearly as many shows without those discounts!), while the AI and Gatsby grants in particular helped the organizations I cared about grow, flourish, and present meaningful performances to the campus community. I can’t imagine Columbia without the AI and especially the TIC; the fact that it’s already lost so much funding and could be losing more is a travesty. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Save the Arts !
The TIC discounts really helped me enjoy my time outside of campus.
The opportunities Arts Initiative at Columbia provides its students with amazing opportunities to broaden their horizons and explore various facets of self-expression and culture here in the city. This should not be cut.
My life would suck with out CUArts!
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As an art history and dance double major, the Arts Initiative has played a very important role in my college experience. Save CU Arts!!
Without the amazing family that the Columbia arts community is, I wouldn’t be convinced that Columbia is the place for me.
Save the arts!
I used it for a visit to the Frick before it was taken off the Initiative. The Frick became my favorite museum and I still visit it once a semester for inspiration and study. As a poor science major, escapes like this from my curriculum are very enriching yet rare. CU Arts initiative was one way for me to explore the culture of New York City, and of our world, at an affordable level to a student.
While I haven’t used many of the CUArts opportunities, the museum access is really great and something that I’ve liked taking advantage of. I hope I can still utilize this and other opportunities over the course of my Columbia career.
Save CU Arts
Save the Arts!!
CUArts is what makes Columbia uniquely connected to the city. It is what the incoming students I work with are most excited for when coming to Columbia, and it is a shame to see other cities use our model while ours is slowly eroding.
SC
At times like these, the arts are the first things we need to save. As Winston Churchill once said, if we’re not fighting for the arts, “then what are we fighting for?”
The percentage of the Columbia community the arts initiative affects is large due to those who both create and appreciate the arts on campus and throughout New York City. The arts are unique in that they have the power to bring people together and strengthen this community through collaborations between different types of artists. Being a part of the musical theater and music communities on campus have been a central part of my Columbia experience. Student run theater in particular is a valuable experience where we have the chance to develop our artistic voice and grow as leaders. This is vital in helping to prepare those who wish to pursue the arts as a career.
The Arts Initiative was the 50% of the reason I enjoy all these events.
Save CUarts!!!
An essential component of the Columbia experience is being in New York City and seeing everything it has to offer. Taking away CUArts would mean taking away that experience for so many young adults. Are you willing to take away one of the most fundamental things about this university?
Save the Arts!
The Arts just make campus more beautiful.
CUArts is one of the things that make Columbia truly a “university in the city of New York”, and should continue to be a strong aspect of a CU undergrad education.
I am a dancer and an actress. I major in neither of these fields, but the arts have provided an outlet for me to explore, enhance, and evolve my creativity. Creative outlets help exercise all facets of the mind and body, enhancing performance in other academic fields. Dance and theatre have encouraged me to push personal boundaries and unleash new depths of self-discovery. Columbia’s art programs have provided a grounding guidance during my college career while simultaneously instigating a passionate determination toward future goals.
Please reform the CUArts program so that students can benefit from the incredible experiences available in NYC in an affordable way.
A major factor in my decision to attend Columbia was the Arts Initiative and the access it does/could grant me to New York City as a whole. We live in one of the largest and most vibrant cultural centers in the world and should have easy access to it in order to supplement the education we’re receiving as Columbia Students.
Save the arts!
The CU Arts Initiative was one of the main reasons why I chose Columbia. As a prospective visual arts major, the Arts Initiative showed me just how much Columbia valued the arts.
What’s life without the arts?
The Arts Initiative has opened up so many possibilities to me as a college student who otherwise would not be able to afford the great opportunities New York has to offer. Please don’t take away such a vital and influential resource.
Being an electrical engineer major, I don’t get room for arts classes, but the Arts Initiative has made my time in New York City so much more enjoyable with museum trips, movies, performances, and more wonder than I could have ever imagined!
The Arts > Manhattanville campus
Student-run theater is the ONLY part of Columbia I enjoy, please don’t ruin people’s experiences in college by cutting it, we pay like a bajillion dollars a year to go to this school and the Drama Department sometimes leaves a little to be desired; I think we deserve to make our own art as well.
As a freshman, CUArts helped me get off campus and get to know the vibrant city we live in.
Save the CU Arts Initiative!
Save the Arts
I’ve gotten many tickets through CUArts and have been to many museums because of it. I would not have ben able to afford these tickets or museums otherwise. I came to college in New York to take advantage of these resources that enrich my academic and social experience, and CUArts has allowed me to do so. Please keep CUArts strong, it greatly enriches students.
This lack of support for the arts is discouraging.
My first month at Columbia, I wanted to get out and see the city so a few friends and I bought tickets to a new movie through the CU Arts Initiative. When we got there, we found out that the star of the movie would be making a surprise appearance after the show. He answered our questions about acting and film production, and gave us autographs and a photo op as well. It was an amazing experience, and it never would have happened without the CU Arts Initiative!
c’mon PrezBo
CU Arts is an important sponsor for our student productions.
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keep us human; keep the arts.
Being a transfer student is not an easy transition at Columbia. However, the theatre community here made me feel so welcome, and it is how I made many of my closest friends here. Acting in “Romeo and Juliet” and doing publicity for various shows have both been really important experiences in my short time at Columbia, and I would never want to see such experiences vanish. Save the Arts!
As an alum and current parent, I continue to enjoy the diversity of cultural opportunities Columbia offers. I enjoy attending athletic events and am glad to see that the athletic programs receive strong support. Likewise, I enjoy attending the theatre, dance, music, and multiple other events offered by the arts community of Columbia. It’s disappointing that the arts funding has not kept pace with the funding for athletics and other areas. On giving day, we specified that our contribution be given to the Arts Initiative. The arts, like all of the other activities at the university need to be supported not just with lip service but with actual dollars. If not current students are greatly short-changed.
please save it!
- Kolleen Ku
CUArts has been a highlight of my Columbia experience.
I have several fond memories of Columbia that are 100% thanks to CU Arts.
Columbia loves to talk about how it is “Columbia University in the City of new York.” The arts initiative is one of the major ways that students get a chance to interact with the city and participate in the kind of artistic endeavors that the city is famous for.
This is such a crucial program and interaction with the world that Columbia offers to its community, too much will be lost if its allowed to whither.
Free Museums? Knowing that I have for years to experience the best art in the world? The technical side of my brain may be dominant, but I came to Columbia because I wanted an undergraduate education that expanded all field of thought and experience. If CUarts dies, then how can I really say Columbia does its jobs of exposing its students to best of all disciplines?
The Columbia Ballet Collaborative gave me the opportunity to return to dance, after being sidelined with a major injury, and still pursue my degree at the same time. I danced with them for a few semesters before eventually joining the board, as well and serving as Executive Director CBC gave me invaluable experience in arts administration and dance. Without a proper venue for CBC to perform in, it is not the same campus based organization that it has always aimed to be. I credit CBC with the fact that I am now employed as a professional ballet dancer with a wonderful company. Without the ideal on campus venue, CBC is not the company it began as. In general, campus arts groups should not have to pay an additional fee to perform at THEIR OWN UNIVERSITY. We pay enough as it is (financial aid is another monster entirely), and the fact that a simple space for performance and expression is only available at an additional cost is borderline ridiculous.
I chose Columbia over other schools in part because of the Arts Initiative. As a student who loves the arts, in terms of both enjoying and creating, but also pragmatic about his ability to balance the arts with other serious academic interests, the Arts Initiative was a key reason for my application to Columbia. Seeing it slowly wither away is an enormous disappointment.
It has helped me to grow in ways other than just academically…expanded my cultural horizons through art. keep it alive!
I support this
The Arts Initiative has had an intense and immeasurable impact on my experience at this school. Creatively, socially, intellectually. I know now, after two performance-filled years at this school, that my fondest college memories will revolve around the concerts and musicals in which I’ve performed. Without the support and funding of this incredible program, these events would never have been made possible.
SAVE THE ARTS.
The Arts Initiative is essential to the Columbia community, not for supporting student-created art on campus, but also for enabling students to take advantage of all that New York has to offer in terms of museums, theater, dance and music. I came to Barnard because it offered me opportunities in the arts that I could not find elsewhere, and therefore I take advantage of every opportunity that the Arts Initiative provides- performing in and watching as many student productions as possible, getting off campus to see affordable theater in the city, and taking in as many art museums as possible. The Arts Initiative sets Columbia apart from other high-caliber universities and allows students to have a more well-rounded education. It should not just be saved, it should be supported and valued.
The Arts Initiative is one of the reasons I chose Columbia.
~Chinyere
It’s increased my awareness and exposure of the world, its collective history, and its people. Without this privileged, I would probably still be the sheltered child I once was before coming here. Please don’t take the arts away!
I use the Arts Initiative almost weekly. Don’t know what I’d do without it!!
CU arts paid for my first opera ticket. And second, and third and fourth. Thank you.
I’ve done costuming for various theater groups on campus since freshman year, and I’ve made some of my closest friends through it. Theater needs to stay!
Opera for the youth!
“If I can’t dance – I don’t want to be part of your revolution” Emma Goldman
Continue supporting this vital connection to New York’s wealth of art resources.
The student theater community has been integral to my personal and intellectual journey at Columbia. Without the Arts Initiative, there are countless friends I wouldn’t have made, lessons I wouldn’t have learned, and skills I wouldn’t have acquired. To let it die would pull the rug out from under a smart, warm, funny, and infinitely hard-working community.
It has allowed me to be part of Columbia Taal!
-Marc Garabedian
As a student of the arts (music) the Arts Initiative has been integral to helping to introduce me to the opportunities available to me during and post-graduation. The Arts Initiative has helped me to see performers and venues that have influenced my identity as a musician and helped me to grow and learn in myriad ways. Losing the Arts Initiative would be a substantial blow for all students here, but especially it would make it so much more difficult for budding artists to find professionals to look up to and emulate.
Sincerely,
Sophie A. Lewis
Save student theatre!
The Arts Initiative has had a major impact on my time here at Columbia.
The Arts Initiative is so important to the Columbia experience and my time here specifically. I never would have found my way into the world of Broadway theater if not for free tickets to In the Heights I won during my first semester on campus. I still remember that performance as my favorite show of all time, and now make an effort to see at least one Broadway play each semester. This has become increasingly difficult with the increased prices of tickets, just one of many reasons why funding for CU Arts is so important!
Save CU Arts
“Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it.” -Robert Motherwell
I depend on the Arts Initiative for funding to see museums and shows. I would not have to Columbia without it
Who are we without the arts?
The Arts Initiative is an important resource to support the creative interests of Columbia students, and should remain as such
Columbia’s location in New York City is one of its key assets, and the Arts Initiative is what really helps students to take advantage of the city’s unparalleled offerings in the arts. Indeed, the ability of arts offerings to supplement classes both in the Core and at large was one of the key factors that made Columbia my first choice. Where else can you study music history by taking a class trip to the Met? Or art history by going with your professor to discuss the masterpieces of the Frick, MoMA, etc? And how many other schools supplement their lectures on Shakespeare, ballet history, and modern drama with actual performances by some of the world’s greatest companies? These things make our classes unparalleled. While I am interested in the university’s global engagement, I think it would be an enormous mistake to pursue global initiatives at the expense of exploring all that New York City has to offer. What is the point of going to school in a great world city if you are going to confine yourself to Morningside Heights?
It provided me with updates of cultural offerings that I would not have otherwise knew about and provided me affordable access to those events. While only used a few times a semester, the fact that CUArts was there and accessible was important and an invaluable part of my Columbia and Barnard on and off-campus experience.
The Arts Initiative is meant to be a group to support the creative interests of the students at Columbia, and should remain as such
save the arts
The fact that we even have to sign a petition to save the arts at a university in a cultured city like New York is really concerning. C’mon guys, what are we without art? How do we create and innovate without the inspiration that The Arts Initiative gives us access to? This is a no-brainer. Save the arts.
The Arts Initiative has allowed me to see countless Broadway and off-Broadway productions at discounted prices, for my own pleasure and to supplement classes at Columbia. The Arts Initiative has also supported my time in KCST, which has been one of the most positive, enriching experiences I’ve had at this school. I have loved performing with KCST and CMTS, Egg and Peacock, and I want others to share that same joy as me.
I consider CUArts to be part of my academic experience. Our Arts Initiative provides us with an experience on and off campus that no other institution can parallel. It provides us with meaningful, productive, and beneficial components to our campus life, academic pursuits, and personal and community development.
It is essential that a top school like Columbia University, located in a world class cultural center like New York City retain its Arts Initiative program at the fullest possible strength.
With programs like CU Arts, the Columbia campus expands beyond Morningside Heights and out into the rest of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, giving students the opportunity to expand their minds with some truly great art, theater, music, etc. Though I graduated over a year ago, I still look to the CU Arts website for ideas and the discounts that make it possible for me to continue experiencing great culture in New York City. Columbia prides itself on its ability to use the city as a classroom, and CUArts is a huge part of the vision that attracts so many people to Columbia. They deserve a space, staff, and funding to continue providing affordable, interesting cultural opportunities for future students.
The arts are the reason that I chose to come to school in New York City instead of any other place in the world. The Arts Initiative is incredibly important to my experience as a student here, both because I am involved in multiple dance groups (one being CBC, which can no longer perform in its home theater) that are affiliated with the Arts Initiative and because I enjoy seeing other forms of art- theater, music, etc- on and off campus, preferably for reduced ticket prices.
Save the arts!
The arts are very important. Keep the arts. Support the Arts.
Save the arts!
Save the arts — they bring Columbians together!
Dear President Bollinger,
As a student on financial aid during my four years at Columbia, the CUArts initiative was a great way for me to engage with the culture of New York and inform my Columbia experience. Please do not take this away from other students who may not be able to afford the cultural experiences that complement the Core or a Columbia education.
I think everyone can probably understand that some funding cuts are justified when money gets tight – I mean, private parties at the Met for NSOP are a little exorbitant. What is disrespectful to Columbia students and student-artists is allowing the CU Arts website, the face of the arts community on campus, to become obsolete and useless. It’s disrespectful to cut Gatsby grants that allow students from all disciplines to collaborate and use their creativity for the good of this community. It is disrespectful to ignore the massive impact tickets procured through ArtsLink can have on curriculum and students’ growth as people. I hope I don’t experience that disrespect during my time here at Columbia University.
Please save the Arts Initiative!
The arts initiative at columbia needs to be saved!!
WHY
Save the Arts!
…because where would we be without them?
When I was a student I took advantage of many aspects of the CU Arts program, and those experiences are some of my fondest memories of my time at CC. CU Arts gives students unrivaled access to the best that NYC has to offer, and cutting funding to it will certainly have a negative effect on the student experience.
I hope that a way is found to keep this program. I think more universities need programs like this because as a college student at the moment, I have felt the stress a full time academic schedule along with extra curriculars and jobs can create. It is wonderful to have an organized way to connect to outlets that are still academic, yet free from pressures. They may help to relieve some of that stress and help us to not completely forget what we are in school for in the first place, which is to become responsible adults moving towards a healthier future and to learn continuously in a healthy and supportive environment.
NYC is the arts, and the arts are NYC.
This is so important. Please, save the arts!!
Save the arts!!
Being given the opportunity to work on and see so much theater and performing arts over my time at Columbia provided me with invaluable opportunities that have shaped my current life more than almost anything else. It would be remiss of Columbia not to allow future students the amazing opportunities that the Arts Initiative is designed to provide.
Save the Arts.
The Arts Initiative is fantastic and it is so important to make the arts accessible to students. Save the arts, please!
Getting cheaper Broadway and Opera tickets through the program made it possible for me to see shows I never would have been able to afford!!
The way that the city and all it has to offer supplements the Columbia education is something that attracted me and continues to attract students. The Arts Initiative is instrumental in all of that.
CUArts has been an incredibly valuable part of my college experience for the past few years. The program has made it possible for me to explore New York’s cultural and intellectual life – even on a college students’ budget. It has enriched my academic experience by allowing my professors access to reasonably priced tickets to shows, operas, and exhibits for all of us to enjoy together.
Columbia has increasingly become known as one of the most stressful universities in the nation. Those who live here know and have felt the effects of the excessively stressful campus culture. For some, it is even a source of pride. But for many, including myself, it is a problem that threatens students’ personal well-being, holistic health, and our ability to achieve our academic ambitions.
Chronic stress inhibits our freedom to dream; the Arts Initiative rejuvenates us, instead. It offers respite to overachieving university students in a City – on a campus – that truly never sleeps.
The arts community at Columbia is phenomenal and needs the support of this program. Save the arts!
The arts are a central piece of New York City’s beauty and they define so many of the inspiring people who live, work, and study here. Experiencing all the arts have to offer makes the college learning experience much more enriching.
One of the reasons I chose to go to Columbia was for the school’s connection with the arts around New York City. I think the Arts Initiative is a huge draw for prospective students, as well as one of the aspects of the College that students love most.
The Arts Initiative has hosted many events that have brought vibrance to the otherwise bottled Columbia community. Any contributions by the arts are a necessary and integral part to a fluid and sustainable college community.
Save the arts!
Having the CU Arts program in place was the only reason I was able to design and tech direct as many shows as I did during college. It was an invaluable experience and I hope Columbia chooses to grant that same experience to others.
One of the reasons I came to New York was for all of the cultural opportunities it provides. If those could be made even more accessible, it would be fabulous.
Save the arts!
The Arts Initiative was my favorite Columbia organization and embodied a great collaboration between students, professors, and administration. For me, it was the most important advantage that Columbia has over other schools, and as a recent graduate, it is the only branch of Columbia that I would consider to support financially.
- Saba Askari
As a freshman I’d love to see more arts involvement at Columbia and be able to better take advantage of the incredible cultural center that is New York City. Save the Arts Initiative!
CUArts has already had a significant impact on my college experience and I’ve only been here a few months! It deserves more support.
The Arts Initiative has been integral to my experience at Columbia being as positive as it has been!
Save CU Arts!
everyone deserves to enjoy the arts
save the arts!
Gatsby grants are an essential part of our publication process. Save the arts!
It’s a no-brainer! The Art Initiative are one of the best things on campus. They provide spectacular opportunities for students to perform and watch art in many different mediums. It is a chance for all to come together to share in our talents. It is a privilege to witness such creativity!
The arts have been a part of my life ever since I was three. The main reason I chose to come to Columbia was its affiliation with the arts. I have grown so much as a dancer here and enjoy participating in groups like Orchesis and CoLab that are a part of Columbia’s campus. I use the ticket center to go see performances from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Broadway shows. The arts bring people together and in a place so cultured like Columbia University it would be a shame to not give artists the potential to grow. In such a diverse community it’s important to keep the arts going. New York City is the center for the arts and every student deserves the chance to enrich themselves.
As a member of Columbia Taal, supporting this initiative is very important to me and I hope this petition succeeds.
This is super important!
CUArts is truly what made my Columbia/Barnard experience great, and is one of the main reasons I chose to come to CU/BC and join this incredibly artistic community.
-Rachel Peck
While I was at Columbia I was very active in on-campus theatre; Kings Crown, CMTS, Late Nite, Chowdah, and more. CUARTs helped all these groups immensely as well as helped me explore arts as my own as a student in New York City.
The Arts Initiative is a crucial part of Columbia’s artistic community that provides students with important access to New York City’s thriving arts scene.
SAVE THE ARTS
peace. love. happiness. flowers.
Save the arts!!!
The Arts Initiative hosted many of my favorite events at Columbia. It’s one of the few ways that students really get to experience the art scene of NYC! PLEASE don’t get rid of it!
The Arts Initiative is responsible for many of my most formative experiences and fondest memories of my time as a Columbia student.
As a theatre student and developing theatre maker in New York, I cannot stress enough how important I believe it is to be able to see and make theatre in order to develop the craft of doing it well. The Arts Initiative provides many students the opportunity to see high quality New York theatre and arts events that they would not otherwise be able to afford. One of the biggest reasons I chose to come to school here was to be in New York, surrounded by the New York arts scene. Reduced ticket prices, such as those provided by CUArts allow me to enjoy the culture of New York that is as much a part of my education as classes are. Moreover, the Gatsby grants fund the practice of creating student theatre. It is an invaluable experience to be able to make the kind of work you want to make with your peers, and for other students to be able to see that work.
Save the arts!
Columbia Musical Theater Society is how I made friends and found meaning as a freshman in college and constantly enriches my life. It is the main thing that makes my experience here more than just slogging through essays in the library all day after classes.
This program has such a positive influence on the entire Columbia community. Please save the arts!
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas Merton
The Arts Initiative was great when I needed to get off campus for a day. The current and future students deserve the same fine arts options that those of us who have graduated recently were able to partake in.
The arts belong on the TOP of the list of priorities, not the bottom.
Freshman year I met some of my friends on an Arts Initiative-sponsored trip to a theater event, and I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to experience the amazing shows, music, theater, and museums New York has to offer. The arts have been a contentious issue for years across the country, and I would hate to see Columbia fall into this sort of pseudo-utilitarian thinking. The arts are an essential part of growth, and we should do everything we can to prevent budget cuts from hurting undergraduates.
Going through my receipts and ticket stubs, just this semester I have used the Arts Initiative to connect me to 11 performances and exhibits. Were it not for this resource, I can admit that most of those experiences wouldn’t have happened. To see that our school has disregarded the Arts Initiative and its mission, for whatever reason, is not only a disappointment, but frankly, an embarrassment.
This lack of support for the arts is disconcerting.
The Arts Initiative is an essential part of the Columbia experience. I would not have chosen to attend a university that did not have a strong connection to the arts. Support from the Arts Initiative is also hugely important for student run performances. As a leader in a student theater group, I can personally attest to the importance of the Gatsby Grant. Student theater, which provides such a sense of community for so many of us, would suffer greatly if we lost this funding! Please help save the arts initiative!
The Arts Initiative has been a crucial part of my Columbia experience. Without the Arts Initiative and without the necessary funding, the Columbia community will isolate itself from experiencing the wonderful artistic opportunities this city has to offer. I wouldn’t have picked this school if it wasn’t for the Arts Initiative and Columbia’s appreciation for the arts.
“The production of a work of art throws a light upon the mystery of humanity” -Emerson
Show us you treasure that light, Columbia, and save the Arts Initiative.
The ABC publications enormously benefit from the Gatsby grant, as it is an opportunity for them to further promote their mission and the arts on campus. Taking it away or even continuing to decrease this essential funding will be severely detrimental to ABC publications (as well as countless other publications on campus not under ABC). The implications of these changes will, in turn, hinder the broader Columbia community, as journals will face more obstacles to funding.
I, along with many other students, would not have chosen to even apply to Columbia if we had thought that Columbia did not strongly support the arts.
Save the arts!!!
Save CUArts
Save the arts!
Save the arts!
Passport to Columbia and TIC have made enjoying the city possible for me!
Save the arts!
I was a Biological Sciences and Political Science double major. Doing both of those things caused an intense strain on my social life and my stress levels. CUArts helped bring me together with some of my best friends that I still keep in touch with today. Going to rehearsal wasn’t just a time block on my weeknight — it was a bonding experience to meet people I would have never met otherwise as well as a great productive relief from the stresses of academia.
The incredible support and access to the arts at Columbia was the pivotal factor in my decision to choose this university. Where would we be without art??
New York City is such an integral part of the Columbia experience, and the Arts Initiative has made it so much more accessible for students. I’ve loved being able to purchase discounted Broadway tickets and visit museums for free. I’ve also enjoyed seeing our own talented students perform at Miller Theater. I’m sad to see that the funding has been cut for such an important part of the Columbia community. SAVE CUARTS.
Columbia’s awesome connections to arts and culture in New York are one of the most important aspects of its identity as a university.
Save the Arts!
Save the arts!!!
Free museum access is the key to maintaining my cultural knowledge and my well-roundedness as a student.
Columbia needs CU Arts!!
SAVE THE ARTS!
This is such an essential part of Columbia
String Theory, Columbia’s cello ensemble, could not have gotten started without the help of CU Arts. Over the past year, we have recorded youtube videos, started a website, and are exerting our artistic and musical influences on a surprisingly large part of New York, America, and the World.
Save the arts initiative!
THE ARTS INITIATIVE IS AWESOME!
As a biochemistry major, the arts initiative helps me stay connected to areas outside of what I’m studying, both by getting me off campus to enjoy a show and supporting the student group shows that I work on. I also regularly take advantage of the free museum admission, but haven’t been to the Guggenheim since my freshman year when it was included.
The arts are one of the things that sets Columbia apart. Over the last few years, I have been so impressed with how fabulously talented my classmates are in all different styles of art. To be able to develop those styles through practice and education, both at Columbia and in the city, is invaluable. Being here has allowed me to continue dancing while studying to an extent few other schools would have made possible. Columbia should continue to do what it does best. Before putting its money into huge projects while letting other smaller initiatives that students appreciate slip away, the administration should consider in what areas of Columbia life funding will actually go the longest way toward reaffirming what makes this community so great.
The Arts Initiative was a huge part of why I chose to apply to Columbia in the first place! It would be a shame for this to lose funding!!!
The Arts Initiative is one of the major selling points for Columbia University. It expands on Columbia’s title “Columbia University in the City of New York” by offering students easy access to the rich culture of this city. It states definitively that the arts should be available to everyone, instead of only those fortunate enough to be able to regularly afford full price tickets.
Furthermore, as a former arts group leader, I can attest to the very important role that both the Gatsby Grants and the TIC play in a student group. Gatsby grants provide necessary funds for arts-based events, and is especially vital for new events and groups that don’t have the increased allocation / potential revenue that established groups maintain. The TIC allows any group to register an event and centralizes ticket distribution, making arts events easily accessible to the student body, the Columbia community, and the general public. Losing either would dampen not only the arts on campus, but many political, social, and educational events as well.
CU Arts has made a huge impact at my time at Columbia University – and in order to provide a well rounded education and experience to its students, it’s imperative to keep the Arts Initiative to continue exposing the best of New York City’s culture. Keep CUARTS please!
CU Arts has allowed for me to participate in Night Market and Lunar Gala, two of the most meaningful events to me over my last 4 years at Columbia. Given CU Arts’ generous funding for each of these events, we had thousands of people enjoy free performances dozens of talented performers. SAVE CU ARTS!!!
As an international student coming for the first time to the USA, I was very excited about being in New York and visiting many places. It was sad to discover when I got here that everything was very expensive. The Art Initiative made it possible for me to go Broadway shows, museums, the movies, and attend art event for a very cheap price! PLEASE SAVE the ARTS INITIATIVE!
A large reason for why I chose Columbia, and it’s been a shame to see what CUArts has to offer deteriorate over the past few years
Save the arts!
CU Arts is essential to supporting clubs, projects & students. As a documentary filmmaker, I would be nowhere without CU Arts – Save the Arts!
Not only has the arts initiative brought many of my classes to life, even beyond art and music hum, the initiative has allowed me to explore NYC in a way that is fundamental to the very core of the city- something i would not have been able to do otherwise when considering finances. Moreover, i think the program is now so integrated with the Columbia experience, that taking it away or even making it less than what it is now would be a serious blow to the experience, here.
Columbia needs the CU Arts Initiative!
I love going to museums for free and broadway shows for discounted prices and would cry if this were no longer the case.
The Arts Initiative positively impacts the CU community in many ways, both on and off campus. Art is at the core of our student lives; we cannot be a community without art. Save the Arts Initiative.
As a theatre major, the CU Arts Initiative has been an incredibly crucial part of my experience both in and out of the classroom. Not only has it provided me the chance to see top-quality productions in New York City, but it has also contributed to my extracurricular experience through theatre produced right here on campus. CUArts is, without a doubt, an integral part of the Columbia student experience – arts major or otherwise.
CU Arts is so important; please save the arts!
!!!
I believe in CUArt and its power! Save arts!
This is one of the actual main reasons I came to Columbia. I may be an engineer on paper but I have always and will always love the arts. It is probably one of the best learning tools Columbia can offer. It never fails to give a new perspective on love, life, beauty, etc. The arts open the eyes and minds of students in ways that some classes just can’t, and it would be an utter loss to deprive students of such an opportunity
One of the biggest reasons I chose Columbia is because of its strong connection to the arts. A university that bills itself as “in the city of New York” cannot cut off such a vital tie to the arts capital of the world. The Arts Initiative has been a huge part of my experience here and to let it go would be an huge discredit to Columbia.
The Gatsy Grant from CUArts has made Hoot Magazine, a fashion magazine that I am deeply involved with, possible for the last 3 years of its existence. We needed that so much more than you’ll ever know!
Arts!
CUArts has played an integral role in my Columbia experience
The Arts Initiative is one of few Columbia programs that allows us to engage with the expressive and creative aspects of human life and history. Without the arts, Columbia would not merely lose the opportunity to make fun excursions to museums and performances; Columbia would lose a core part of the education that makes it one of the best schools in the country.
CUArts helps students access the amazing performances and exhibitions that New York has to offer and supports student work on campus. It’s essential to student well-being to be able to express ourselves through creating art and enriching for us to go out and appreciate it.
The Arts Initiative is what really opened New York up to me, giving me the opportunity to get off campus when work and stress had me most trapped there. I loved getting downtown to see ballets, musicals, and plays thanks to the Arts Initiative.
The Arts Initiative was a big reason why I wanted to come to Barnard/Columbia. It definitely enhanced my college experience and it would be a huge detriment for future students for the Arts Initiative to be cut or eliminated.
Save the Arts Initiative. It brings a sense of community at CU.
Immensely important to all of us.
CUarts has made museums, collections, performances, and so many more opportunities accessible to the students of Columbia University. In addition, the Great Gatsby grant has funded numerous campus events that reflect the culture, diversity and spirit of our student body. Save the Arts!
The arts are a crucial part of a liberal arts education. These programs allow students an outlet for their talent and an escape from the stresses of academia. Without them, there are few ways for arts majors like me to apply the skills I am learning to real life performances and projects.
SAVE THE ARTS!
In my freshman year I joined the editorial board of the campus magazine Columbia New Poetry, funded generously and predominantly by the Gatsby Charitable Grant. New Poetry was a fundamental part of my social, academic and extracurricular life while at Columbia. As a freshman in NYC for the first time, I was able to attend the open meetings and make friends with students from various class years who advised me on which professors to take and other information that made acclimating to the Columbia pace of life much easier. The grant we receive from the Arts Initiative is used only for the printing costs of the magazine itself, but as anyone from New Poetry will tell you, we are more than just a magazine. We challenge each other to promote poetry with open minds on campus and we are a network of growing support. One side could not exist without the other. I am an alum now, earning my MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and I would be saddened to see this Columbia institution face greater challenges with its funding compromised, same for all the performances and artistic endeavors of my talented former classmates. Funding for the arts is seen as expendable in times of economic hardship, but I implore you that the learning and wide reach in experiences of artists on campus are just as important to Columbia’s rich history as any other experience. Thank you for listening, sz.
Severing our connection with the arts and culture of this city is removing a cornerstone of our Columbia education.
I truly believe the arts can save people from their darker selves and making bad decisions, and personally I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have access to the arts in my life. It’s crucial to support the CU Arts Initiative and give that light of hope to all students.
The quality of my life at Columbia would have been appreciatively worse without the Arts Initiative. Access to the arts is an important part of being an engaged student and New Yorker. Education is more than just sitting in the classroom.
CU Arts has contributed greatly to my social experience at Columbia. The variety of activities on campus are supported by not only the events, but also the individuals committed to positively impacting student life.
A school of this caliber should take every possible path towards the intellectual development of its students. Not just ones that are more financially feasible.
Restore the arts initiative!
One of the best memories I have from my freshman year at Columbia is finishing my first round of finals and deciding, on a whim, to go see the Diego Rivera exhibit at MoMA. It wasn’t until I arrived at the museum that I realized my Columbia ID meant I could get in for free. These kinds of opportunities are crucial to the value of the Columbia experience. Save The Arts Initiative!
We need to save the Arts Initiative to preserve an integral part of the Columbia experience.
The arts are a crucial part of a Liberal ARTS education.
This is the only way I am able to participate in what I love, and I firmly support this.
Because of the Arts Initiative, I spend days off going to museums rather than staying in my dorm room on the computer.
CU Arts is one of the defining parts of a Columbia experience. It influenced my decision to come here and the decision of countless others. We want this strong, bountiful and proud legacy to continue into the future!
We must commit ourselves to the arts as much as we do the humanities and sciences.
Save the arts!!!
Columbia needs this
I love art!
What are we without the Arts? This is a no brainer, save the arts!
Save the Arts Initiative! It’s honestly more important than anyone gives it credit for
Columbia. Fudge you. Save the arts.
Even though I was born and lived in NYC all my life, it was through the TIC that I have been able to access so many events that I couldn’t afford to attend before, and it’s especially useful for so many of the classes here on campus.
I see the great programs it supports which make campus life that much more enjoyable.
this is a perk that should be coveted and not abandoned! Save the arts!
During my four years at Columbia, the Arts Initiative was essential to my thrilling undergraduate experience. Without Passport to Columbia, I would have never seen the stunning beauty of the Cloisters. Without affordable student tickets, I would have never been able to enjoy award-winning Broadway shows. Without Gatsby grants, I would have never been able to help the Columbia University Wind Ensemble fund New York City music education. The Arts Initiative is a crucial part of Columbia that all current and future students need as a full-fledged resource so they can have the amazing opportunities I did.
For a school like Columbia in a city like New York to fail to fund the arts on behalf of its students is totally not okay!
Save the arts, please.
This isn’t even a question, save The Arts Initiative!
Save the Arts!
The Arts Initiative was one of the reasons I applied to Columbia! Please help us keep it alive!!
The arts are what keep us human.
CU arts makes tickets and shows affordable, bringing together students. It has funded Lunar Gala, a show I put in over a year’s work for, and made it happen. It supports and touches all our student groups’ efforts.
CU Arts is a great program. Without it, I would not have been able to attend such great events in the city. So please save the Arts!
The Arts Initiative is the main means by which we can continue to have ANY form of community on this campus
I’m very involved in the arts and I believe they are extremely important at Columbia University!!!
The decline in funding is very noticeable. Students have been receiving fewer and fewer tickets to cultural events in the city and museums have been charging more and more. We live in New York City and the arts are such an important part of the reason why students come to Columbia… why cut funding for one of our main draws.
This a huge part of the Columbia experience.
The Gatsby Grant helps students on campus perform and the Arts Initiative was the main reason I explored NYC as much as I did. SAVE THE ARTS INITIATIVE!
This is incredibly important
Without the arts, we have nothing.
Save the arts!
The access to museums and cultural opportunities all over New York City has helped me connect art and the coursework I’ve taken throughout my time at Columbia. Reading Chuang-Tzu in front of Chinese Taoist art is an experience someone in another university with no museum around would not have. Columbia’s unique in this way and we should retain that uniqueness.
Agreed!
CUArts is a wonderful program that should not be dismissed!
The Arts initiative establishes one of the closest and best communities on campus and I would hate to se it change in any way. Art is where the Heart is.
This issue shouldn’t even be up for debate.
Save the Arts!
The Arts Initiative was one of the things that brought me to this school in the first place. This is so incredibly important to the health of the student community and to help us engage in the wider world; doesn’t the University want us to do just that?
I often say that I am happiest when I’m creative. On campus, the Arts Initiative has funded programs that have enhanced our community by providing us with cultural, performative and creative outlets necessary to preserve diversity, unite the community and boost our spirits. Further, the Arts Initiative has allowed me, and fellow Columbia community members to break away from papers and problem sets and enjoy the beauty and grandeur that this city has to offer. The Arts Initiative, in full force, is essential to Columbia.
Arts Initiative is crucial to staying sane at Columbia!
CU Arts has given me the opportunity to experience the museums and theater shows which due to regular costs would not have been an option.
CUArts has been an incredible resource for me throughout the past four years of college. CUArts gave me the opportunity to attend numerous Broadway shows, ballet and opera performances that I would not have otherwise been able to afford. This organization has shaped my college experience and allowed me to take full advantage of going to school in New York City. It is a disgrace that the administration is willing to hinder those opportunities for students for purely financial reasons.
The arts promote community in a unique way on campus. These are the efforts that should be supported.
Save the Arts Initiative!
Save the arts!
I love arts in NYC and truly enjoyed the discount tickets through the TIC center. It helps me a lot, given the limited budget and allowances, and allowed me to enjoy the city with my other friends on campus. Please bring the arts initiative back!
Without the CU Arts Initiative, we aren’t Columbia University “in the City of New York.” The Columbia experience is not complete without the Arts Initiative.
Yes!
Save the Arts Initiative!
My freshman year I went to the International Center of Photography, The Met, the MOMA, the Cloisters, the Guggenheim, the Museum of the City of New York, and The Paley Center for Media all paid for through the Arts Initiative! This was one of the best ways to explore the city and see all it has to offer – this is something I am not able to experience in my engineering classes! Please continue to increase funding for the Arts, don’t decrease it!
Save the arts!!
save the arts!!
The Arts Initiative provided resources that no other organization at Columbia provided during my years at Columbia. One of the things that makes Columbia so special is its integration with the city its a part of. Free access to museums (like the Frick, the Whitney, and the Guggenheim which have now been lost) is part of what sets it apart from other institutions of higher education in New York City. Further, the programs that the Arts Initiative provides to students through Gatsby grants is unparalleled and invaluable. Access to these grants changed the entire nature of my experience at Columbia and did so for countless others, as well. The Initiative reaches every student at Columbia and is essential to all of them as part of a way to maintain the quality and type of experience that draws students to and makes them fall in love with Columbia, and maintaining it at the level I was lucky enough to experience it at during my time at Columbia is essential to the university.
The CUArts initiative gives me and some of my friends the opportunity to go to museums or see shows that we may not have had the opportunity to beforehand. it’s a wonderful investment that Columbia should continue to maintain
The Arts Initiative makes the arts, an invaluable part of living in New York City, affordable and available to students. My Music Humanities and Art Humanities experiences would not have been the same without the Arts Initiative to let me see and hear masterpieces in person.
Save the arts!
CUArts was a great resource during my time in school. I remember going to a play with a small history class, getting ticket discounts to go to events around the city, and using the museum discounts on a very regular basis. All of these programs definitely enriched my college experience and, in fact, the wide access to the arts was one reason I chose Barnard. I think that as a city school, with one of the big draws of the school being its location in New York, maintaining a commitment to help students access the wide range of events should be a priority.
As a transfer student, I especially love the CUArts Initiative. While I have the impulse to stay near campus most of the time because of everything that is going on here, but Contemporary Civilization class trips to plays, and free entry into places like the Frick Museum have given me the incentive to get off campus. I never would have gotten to see the broadway shows that I have seen without the TIC’s discounts. I tell my non-Columbian college friends with pride about all the opportunities we get at Columbia to explore the arts in NYC even if we wouldn’t normally have had the resources to do so financially.
The arts have been a huge part of my experience at Columbia, and it saddens me that administration has let this happen to one of the most beloved programs at the University. As the Artistic Director of CBC this year, I have experienced the changes in the Arts Initiative first-hand. This issue effects all students not just those involved in the arts and something must be done.
My involvement in various arts groups on campus has been the source of some of my best college experiences. The arts are a crucial part of human learning, growth and expression that often get tragically overlooked in this country. It is really important that as a prominent American university, Columbia shows dedication to the arts, which play a key role in shaping so many students’ lives.
Save the CU Arts Initiative
We need the Arts Initiative as it is one of the most visible ways Columbia supports the arts! It is an asset to our university.
CUArts enables me to purchase some of the most sought after tickets for renowned performances in New York City.
Having been a short-time member of CMTS and a long-time goer of shows, the Arts Initiative has fundamentally altered my CU experience. It has made weekends where I could attend a show a joy, and after watching the King Lear continuation during the Black Box show freshman year, I was excited for LitHum and for opportunities to get involved on campus. The Arts are a way for people to display their talents, and isn’t that the point of university? Taking away funding is not just unfair to those who want to engage with and participate in the arts, it’s unfair to everyone who is a part of our community, community that theater and art helps build and that Columbia desperately needs more of.
As a Dance major and someone involved in theatre on campus, I have benefitted from CUArts countless times. Multiple classes that I have taken have been able to get cheaper tickets to events that we would not be able to go to otherwise due to cost, but because of CUArts we could take advantage of them and enhance our educational experience and classroom discussion. As an avid arts-goer and performer myself, but absolutely with a student’s budget (probably a smaller budget than most students at the school), sometimes CUArts is the only way that I can afford to go to certain performances. Both of my parents teach arts in public high schools and I have seen for years firsthand that often when districts need to make cuts, one of the first things to go or to suffer significant cuts is the arts– despite the fact that so many studies have proven that the presence of arts education and opportunities enhances a student’s capacity to learn and solidifies concepts in a different, sometimes more understandable way. I know that the budget cuts are not intentionally to destroy the arts presence on campus, but seen rather as a necessary measure in balancing finances. However, I think it’s a shame that our administration– right in the heart of one of the world’s most arts-filled (but expensive) cities– believes, like so many, that it is a “necessary cut” or that it won’t affect the students’ education or experience at Columbia and Barnard. They are very wrong, and I hope beyond hope that they will see the students’ support to reinstate an adequate budget to continue the asset that this program is to the student body.
Please save the Arts Initiative!!
Arts Initiative provided funding and help for a columbia wide banner painting and folk music day by Greenborough and Postcrypt that I helped to organize; without the Arts Initiative we wouldn’t have been able to do it!
The artistic opportunities and exposure around the city serve as a vital complement to our academic pursuits.
The arts initiative at Columbia (University in the CITY OF NEW YORK) is the one of the most, if not the most, important institutions on campus. With such a large and often segregated campus, the community-building aspect of the arts makes it a truly invaluable part of every student’s experience on this campus, whether you’re working on the product itself or you’re an audience member. New York City is the center of artistic passion and it would be heartbreaking to see our college deprive their students of the opportunity to experiment in the arts.
Evan Cornish
The Arts Initiative truly opened New York for me. In particular, the Passport to Columbia’s broad range of participating museums and galleries was an excellent way to pursue intellectual interests outside of the classroom without the impediment of charge. I do hope the Arts Initiative continues to be an important component of student life at Columbia.
KCST made me a better professional and prepared me to enter the real working world.
The Gatsby Grant has funded numerous of my group projects and made them become a success when financial limitations would have made it impossible. Columbia University is the great college it is because of its affiliation with so many of the best cultural and art institutions in the country. In fact, the opportunity to utilize resources and connections with these instituions is a major factor in why I decided to come here. Let’s affirm our commitment to the Arts Initiative.
Save the arts!
!
The arts have not only influenced my time at Columbia, they have shaped it. We need the arts to be well-funded in order for Columbia’s character and community to thrive.
For the past two and a half years, the Arts Initiative has greatly shaped my experience as a Barnard student. As a producer, stage manager, publicity manager and actor in student productions, department productions, and School of the Arts productions, there hasn’t been a day where I have not somehow witnessed the benefits of student priced tickets, the Gatsby Grant, and Passport to Columbia. My experience, like those of so many around me, has been changed for the better by the Arts initiative. The Arts Initiative is an amazing program that makes our school better for students interested and involved with the arts, and it deserves to be upheld.
The initiative is one of the best ways for Columbia to provide an enriching experience for its students.
Like many, many, many students here the Arts Initiative was an important part of my decision to come to Columbia. The university can’t afford to jeopardize this program.
I’m currently an intern with the Arts Initiative. Writing for them has been one of the greatest pleasures in my time as a student here at Columbia. It should be allowed to stay true to its original mission.
It made my Columbia experience worth it
As a student musician, I’ve seen the powerful community building ethos which the arts can have. Because of the Arts Initiative, I’ve been able to take part in the beautiful aesthetic moments which NYC’s museums, concert halls, etc. have to offer. Further, funding from the Gatsby grants, etc. have funded our own desires to express ourselves artistically as individuals, students, and thinkers. The Arts Initiative has helped build me as a scholar and citizen by educating me in the tradition of expression.
The Arts Initiative and the annual Gatsby grant allow my publication, Columbia New Poetry, to publish and promote our literary magazine for new, experimental and innovative forms of poetry. We focus on bringing together all members of the Columbia literary community through our open-mic events, launch parties, professor dinners, and collaborations with other campus arts/literary groups. However, without the support of the Arts Initiative — and, more importantly, without the financial support of the Gatsby grant — Columbia New Poetry will not be able to contribute in a substantial way to the arts and literary scene on campus, nor will we be able to continue to foster the sort of campus literary community we have been promoting without the aid of a physical magazine and without the funds to host literary events.
Being able to perform, and see a wide variety of student theatre is essential to student creativity and expression. The different theatre groups on campus draw people in from eclectic social circles, and to see those groups take hits, and be forced to provide less theatre, and thus less opportunities for people to get involved, would be devastating to the creative atmosphere around Columbia.
The Arts Initiative has been crucial to my Columbia experience. It has allowed the many shapes and sounds of art to challenge the way I think and has informed my senses and my mind in outstanding ways.
The opportunities provided by CUArts are absolutely essential. Columbia is a place where students should be encouraged to explore all different areas of learning and life. CUArts helps students to do just that. We need it.
The arts initiative is incredibly important in helping students plan their programming on campus. Without their assistance many of our events would not happen
Here here.
I would not have come to Columbia if it weren’t for the Arts Initiative.
One of the main reasons I chose to come to Columbia were the vibrant arts that New York City could offer. The Arts Initiative has given me access to many of these opportunities, and without it I would not have been able to afford many of them. Also, as witness to and member of student theater on campus, largely funded by the initiative, I would be heartbroken to see this support diminish! SAVE THE ARTS!
Yes
I remember going to MoMA for the first time and every floor brought with it a revelation, a new way that art can be interpreted and experienced. Being a member of the Glee Club and CMTS, I’ve seen how the arts have enriched the lives of the Columbia community. The Gatsby is a huge financial support and the TIC is a gateway to all the performances at Columbia. Without them, we can’t keep the arts at Columbia alive. I’ve met so many amazing people through singing and musical theater and though I’m constantly overworked, I can’t imagine spending my time at Columbia doing anything more worthwhile. Save the Arts Initiative because, to me, it’s unthinkable that we could lose these experiences.
Access to arts in the city was one of the main reasons I chose Columbia. Save the arts!
We need access to the beautiful things of this world – don’t diminish that for us!
Throughout my undergraduate career at Columbia, I secured Gatsby Grants from the Arts Initiatives for innovative, interesting productions put forth by members of all undergraduate schools and many graduate programs as well. We were able to bring these disparate communities together, and to advertise these shows to the Columbia and greater Morningside Heights community, thanks to the help of the Arts Initiative.
I believe that not only does the influence of culture and creativity help with innovation in other disciplines (this much has been proven again and again), but that the influence of science, technology, anthropology, and countless other academic fields can have a profound effect on artists as well. By housing the Arts Initiative in the School of the Arts, creativity is isolated, which helps nobody. If the arts are to survive in the 21st century, we must not only make them accessible, but we must learn from our peers. As a theatre producer, working with filmmakers and poets is not enough – I want the chance to interact with astrophysicists, economists, lawyers and teachers. My projects could only benefit.
This is why I stand with the Arts Initiative. This is why I believe it needs a new home, a new budget, and a new director.
Sincerely, Alexandra Lalonde
CU Arts is one of the best parts of being at Columbia!
We need this!
I grew up in Manhattan, but I got to see as many Broadway productions my Freshman year of college as I had during the rest of my life up to that point combined. But don’t just consider us–consider the university. We come to Columbia because we want to enjoy the city we love, and if Columbia can’t help us do that, we’ll stop coming.
I’m a poet, and I can speak to the fact that this actively matters.
We must keep CUArts.
Whenever I have a bad day, I always make the trek down to the MOMA so that I can sit in the Monet room for a while. It’s so incredibly calming and beautiful —definitely my favorite place in the city. I sit and look at the walls of color and there reflect on what’s bothering me. It’s my personal haven and I don’t want to lose it.
I get into the museum free because of the Arts Initiative, and I would hate to lose that privilege. Please save the Arts Initiative!
Save CUArts!
save the arts! this is one of the reasons i chose to come to CU!!
As a dance major, CUArts has helped to provide discounts on tickets for performances we attend for class. As a club leader, CUArts’ Gatsby Fund has helped my dance group put on a great show for charity each year.
!
Please
Getting rid of this great program will truly hurt the Columbia community.
By making museums, theater, music, etc available to all students, CUArts not only enables exposure to the arts during our time at school, but is establishing a new generation of arts patrons. If the arts don’t become an integral part of our lives at a young age, how can we expect that the arts will continue to flourish?
As a senior, I feel that I’ve seen some of the heights and some of the most disappointing parts of the Arts Initiative. The arts initiative made it possible for my a cappella group to record a CD my freshman year, an incredible experience that was probably the best part of my first year at Columbia. Thanks to arts initiative, groups of friends and I have gone to the opera together, to museums together. In fact, one of the best memories I have of Columbia is visiting the Guggenheim museum with a group of friends over spring break, an experience that is no longer open to Columbia students without paying high ticket prices that may be prohibitive for some students who don’t have extra money to spend. My freshman year, the Arts Initiative helped to make the arts central to my entire college experience. In fact, that’s a big part of why I chose to dedicate so much of my college career to the arts scene on campus. Unless we refresh the Arts Initiative and recommit to seeing it at its best, I am afraid that future Columbians will not have the experience I’ve had. So please, do everything you can—let’s save the arts initiative!
we need CUArts!!
one of Columbia’s enticing appeals that lead me to apply here was the promise of easy access to the arts here in NYC. As a freshmen, I have yet to even experience this benefit and now it is being diminished?
Save the arts!
Having access to the many cultural resources of NYC is an integral part of the University’s identity and part of their responsibility to provide students with the education that they worked so hard to earn (and for which they are paying).
Shutting down students’ access to Columbia and New York’s artistic and cultural resources is a tragedy, not a cost-cutting strategy. We depend on The Arts Initiative for a myriad of rich intellectual and social opportunities that make the Columbia University experience unique – please don’t take them away!
Please.
Save the arts!
The Arts Initiative has been such a support of the arts both on and off campus and I do not want to see it shrink or go away. Instead, I want to see that it has as much support in the administration as it does with us students and that it can grow and adapt to the needs fo the college community.
The prospect of my high school having better access to the arts of the City than Columbia University shouldn’t be a reality.
As a student producer at Columbia for with a number of student organizations, I was always impressed by the support that CUArts offered to me and to my productions. In addition to financial support through the Gatsby Grant, my interactions with Chad Miller, Abigail Santner and the rest of the staff were always helpful and informative. They offered invaluable resources for the production process.
Additionally, the resources available to students in terms of internships, tickets, and general information were always a boon to the CU student looking for arts involvement as an audience member, intern, student, performer etc.
As an alum and an arts professional I continue to network through CUArts and rely on them to share my events with the larger community.
This is an necessary and invaluable part of the CU community.
I haven’t been to the Guggenheim yet because it’s not on Passport to NY anymore…
The CU Arts Initiative is one of the premier ways that Columbia students are able to interact with New York. So many experiences that are uniquely New York are only accessible to Columbia students because of the generous funding of this program. I hope the administration fulfills its commitment to the arts and to Columbia undergraduates by restoring the Arts Initiative as a priority.
I’m disappointed that such an integral part of our education as Columbia students has been neglected.
CUArts has enabled me to explore the city. The classrooms of Columbia are only half of the attraction and learning in New York City is the other half. CUArts is the enabler of that part of our education.
HELP THE ARTS
As someone who both participated in student theatre and who used the Passport to New York and ArtsLink, the Arts Initiative shaped a huge part of my Columbia experience. Furthermore, learning how to apply for the Gatsby grant as a student producer taught me about grant applications in professional theatre – something that I have applied in my career now that I have graduated. The Arts Initiative is absolutely vital to the survival of student theatre, and it therefore allows a huge number of Columbia students to create art and to come together as a community.
As an actor in student plays, the Gatsby Grant has been fundamental to our productions. Passport to Columbia is one of the most exciting ways to integrate a Columbia experience with a New York experience and I know plenty of prospective students who consider it a major attraction to the school.
I came to Columbia because it promised to enhance my studies of Art and Art History by virtue of its location and programs like the Arts Initiative. I have made countless museum visits subsidized Passport to Columbia and personally benefit from Gatsby funding of the Artist Society with weekly figure drawing sessions. As a board member of the Artist Society and a devoted Art History student, it is distressing to see my favorite things at this college threatened by a burdensome bureaucracy and neglect. It is a shame and disappointment to see the Arts Initiative deteriorate as it has. We all know Columbia is capable of sustaining this program. The will to do so and the money to do so are not in short supply. Please save the Arts Initiative. Save it for me, save it for all of your students, and save it for the future, because it has the power to transform our lives in a way that few other programs can.
Columbia prides itself on the opportunities it provides its students, but a cut to the arts initiative means future generations of students without the opportunity to explore their creative side. Arts are such a necessary, fundamental part of each of us. Even in difficult economic times, especially during those times, people need the Arts.
Without a doubt, my initial reason for coming to this school was to be in New York City. I think that every student here would agree with me. To cut this amazing program, which allows students to see so much of New York that they might not have otherwise, would be a waste. Additionally, the Arts Initiative helps create a wonderful performing arts community on campus, of which I can say has been essential to my time here as a student.
If the arts, especially dance, are to continue to thrive on campus, coming to a satisfactory compromise about CBC’s use of Miller Theatre and all the other reforms listed above will be essential. Save the Arts Initiative!
Save CU Arts!
Its crucial to the students
Let’s get real Columbia. The reason why some of us even apply here is to take advantage of the perks that the Arts Initiative provides for us. I saw Wicked for 50 bucks with my floor freshman year and I’ve had countless other experiences in NYC through this program. It’s important and undergrads love it.
CUArts was integral to my time in college. From being able to amble to nearly any museum in the city with no financial concern to helping to fund the shows my friends and I participated in. Writing applications for Gatsby grants gave me great experience that has already helped me in my career. By fostering students’s relationships with art as both creators and spectators, CUArts is an essential part of Columbia. Please save it.
CU Arts is a great program!
The arts at Columbia are paramount to all student’s growth and development, not just the performing students themselves.
Whether I was participating in KCST shows, seeing performances by other student theater groups, taking advantage of museum discounts, or attending operas and plays throughout the city that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford, CUArts defined my time in the Columbia community in the best way. I hope that the university recognizes the vital role the Arts Initiative plays in providing access to and promoting the arts. I’m proud to have been part of a community that values theater and the arts; I hope that I can remain proud.
The Arts Initiative’s contribution to my four years at Columbia can’t be overstated. It makes accessible and affordable the cultural life of New York, builds bridges to the professional art world, and provides immeasurable support—financial and otherwise—to the creative endeavors of the university’s students. And it accomplishes all this while being the most functional and friendliest administrative office I had the pleasure of interacting with at Columbia. In success and scope, its programming is unmatched in Morningside. This is a no-brainer: Save the damn thing.
SAVE CUARTS!!
It is so important to get off campus! The CU Arts Initiative offers students a way to explore beyond what they learn in class. Bring it back in full!
Half of our education here takes place through the City, which would be unaffordable to most students without the CU Arts Initiative.
The Arts Initiative both enriched my cultural life as an undergrad, and helped me realize my professional goals.
The TIC office
This is a great program and should be properly funded.
The Arts Initiative has given me the opportunity to see New York as I have never seen it before!
The arts are an invaluable part of the Columbia community.
I <3 CUArts
This issue has got to be resolved. Come on.
Because of CU Arts, my seminar was able to go see exhibits at the Whitney and plays relevant to our coursework. Please don’t take way future opportunities like these!
New York is already an expensive place (and so is Columbia, as all of us are aware). If the university really professes to be committed to giving its students the chance to benefit from all the city’s artistic, cultural, and intellectual riches, it is bound to continue supporting this vital program.
I cannot imagine the Columbia community sans Arts Initiative. More than half of the reason I chose to study here rests on the arts and culture scene that New York City has to offer young people. Why eliminate the equally dynamic arts and culture scene on our very own campus?
As a first year, being able to immediately audition for and participate in theatre was an amazing opportunity for me. I was so excited to immediately become part of KCST, a group I had heard about before applying. If the money for student groups runs out, I may never get the same experience with this fantastic group as some of my predecessors have. The Arts Initiative is an amazing opportunity for all students regardless of how they choose to immerse themselves in art and theatre.
The Arts Initiative provides an invaluable resource to Columbia University students and is one of the reasons why I chose to come to this university 4 years ago. I hope that the following reforms are enacted so that future students can have the same wonderful opportunities as current students to participate in the arts, both on and off of Columbia’s campus.
The performing arts should keep being funded!
The CU Arts Initiative helps me connect my Columbia education to the opportunities of living in New York City.
KCST changed my life, and brought me such joy for 4 years and friendships that will last a lifetime. I was never exposed to the performing arts until I reached Columbia. Please don’t deny others the opportunities that were given to me.
Save the CU Arts Initiative!
The Arts Initiative is essential to facilitating culture and intellectual expansion here at Columbia, and it truly does help prevent callowness. Please save it!
As a freshman, the arts at Columbia have already influenced me but with the current situation I feel like I’m not getting what was advertised to me when I applied. The Arts Initiative is something that is important to every student’s experience at Columbia and I deserve my fair share.
The strong arts community is what ultimately led me to chose Barnard/Columbia, and it has largely contributed to my amazing experiences on and off campus thus far. My involvement with CMTS, CUP, and KCST, not to mention seeing the performances of many different groups, has enabled me to meet tons of awesome people, and grow as a student, performer, and citizen. The arts make Columbia University a cultural powerhouse, and allows students to express themselves in many different capacities. I cannot imagine life at CU without the thriving arts scene, and I am willing to fight to keep it alive.
To be dismantling the Arts Initiative is a shame and a travesty for a school that prides itself on having access to all of the cultural institutions that New York has to offer. It’s something that connects us to the city around us, encouraging us to venture outside the gates and experience the arts. If something as needless as refurbishing JJ’s Place is worth spending money on, then I should say that the Arts Initiative is worth it as well.
New York City is the arts capital of the world, and as a result, Columbia has a unique opportunity to capitalize on our location and offer some of the best arts education in the world. And we do. Nowhere else would I have been able to study theater and dance in concordance and with such rigor in each discipline. Only at Columbia would I have had the opportunity to see shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music or the Metropolitan opera, and at subsidized prices that I can afford.
However it seems like the CU Arts Initiative is in danger, and I think that puts Columbia’s entire arts education at risk as well. The Arts Initiative represents the empowerment and education of Columbia students as emerging artists – important ones! – and if anything, it needs to grow stronger in this moment.
I love discount tickets!
This initiative is crucial to the student experience at this school and in this city.
The de-funding of the Arts Initiative is a totally manufactured crisis – the University has the money, all that’s lacking is the willpower to support the undergraduate population.
President Bollinger created this problem. Now he needs to solve it.
save the arts
CUArts needs to be saved!!!
New York City’s shows and museums are not just supplements to our education here at Columbia — they are co-requisites. I chose Columbia because I was promised a Core Curriculum which used the City as its classroom. If the Arts Initiative continues its downward spiral, Columbia’s students will be robbed of the learning opportunities advertised during the admissions process.
Seriously, Columbia?
The Arts Initiative is absolutely necessary for Columbia student to take advantage of the culture of New York City, which is probably a huge reason why they chose to attend this University in the first place.
I strongly support the arts at Barnard and Columbia and think they are vital to our community.
As an art history student, the CU Arts Initiative is a vital component of my education. Without the Arts Initiative, I would be unable to attend the greatest museums in the world for free.
Being a part of the arts community was the highlight of my time at Columbia, and the Arts Initiative helped make that possible.
During my summers at Teachers, I used my “Passport” to spend valuable time in New York’s museums. I could have reveived my MA from many institutions; however, the rich cultural life of New York and the reputation of Teachers attracted me. My experience would have been much less rich without that opportunity.
As the parent of a Barnard student, the teater experiences that Columbia(especially Kings Crown) allowed my daughter, made the high tuition more justifiable.
Sitting in the lovely new Science buidling sipping coffee at Joe’s and looking at the ancient Teachers structure, I am already reminded of the disproportionate value our society places on science and math over the arts. The high tuition I paid for my child and myself goes in part to fund the sciences. Arts are essential; do not devalue them more.
I transferred to Barnard to work on theatre. Getting involved in student theatre has allowed taught me about responsibility. It has allowed me to take charge of projects given me leadership skills I never could have learned elsewhere. It has allowed me to create things. It has connected me with some of the best, most interesting people I will ever meet. People from different backgrounds with different interests who all come together to create art. Through the TIC it has exposed me to theatre outside of Columbia I would not have seen otherwise. Without the arts initiative, I would never have produced a show, would never have seen legendary performances in the felsh, I would never have met some of my best friends, and I probably would be just as unhappy as I was before I got to Barnard.
I’ve been to so many amazing shows, performances, productions…you name it, through the CU Arts Initiative. This is one of the main reasons I love Columbia is the availability to have what all of New York city can offer at lower, student friendly prices. Without the gifts that CU Arts gives us, we’ll lose much of the rich culture we are so proud of.
The Varsity Show made me feel so proud to be a Columbia student.
To let the arts program die out in a city like NYC is the ultimate waste of a great resource for arts students and the general student body.
The Arts Initiative was central to my experience at Barnard and in the larger Columbia Community. I’ve maintained deeply close friendships with underclassmen who are still on campus, and I’ve heard several upsetting accounts of lack of support from the current Arts administrators, lack of attention and transparency, and a lack of fairness, specifically in regards to the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, who’s use of the spring floor in the Miller Theater is essential for their safety as dancers. I’m signing this petition so that the students that come after me will be able to have the same access and appreciation for the arts, in the city and on campus. Thank you.
The arts are incredibly important to our daily lives, and cutting the budget of the Arts Initiative means saving money but also saving in a creativity, an enjoyment and a spirituality that are very much needed in today’s society!
The Arts Initiative was one of the major things that set Columbia apart from other top schools during the application process. New York has countless cultural resources, but because of the limited wealth of most college students, these resources are all but closed off from most. There is an adage that “the city is our classroom,” and the Core combined with the Arts Initiative really made it feel like this was true. I would hate for future students to miss out on opportunities like MOMA and the New York Philharmonic that have been incredibly formative these past few years due to the Arts Initiative falling by the wayside.
The arts are an invaluable part of the Columbia community, and I cannot stand to see such an incredible program die out.
Kelila Kahane
I honestly don’t see how the administration can claim any kind of interest in enriching undergraduate life or integrating students into the city of New York if they let this amazing program wither on the vine. Get it together.
CU Arts is a defining aspect of this university
I love the arts!
The CU Arts Initiative is crucial to Columbia University. Not only does it make the arts of New York City affordable and accessible to students, but the funding given to student theatre on campus through the Arts Initiative and the Gatsby Grant is invaluable. I recently produced “A Bright Room Called Day” through CU Players, and we received a large Gatsby Grant, which allowed for us to build and purchase our set. Without the Arts Initiative, our play would not have happened.
Participating in student theatre organizations, the Arts Initiative grants have enabled me to be a part of high-quality productions. I’m also from a very small town, and part of the reason I came to NYC was the culture–by making shows and museum visits affordable, the Arts Initiative has enriched my Columbia experience immeasurably.
Because of the Columbia Arts Initiative I have been exposed to incredible resources on and off campus. When applying to Columbia, I was beyond excited to have every museum in New York at my fingertips without paying a penny for admission. I have taken full advantage of this and I’ve seen some of the greatest works of art and historical relics that I have ever seen in my life. In addition, discounted tickets to shows and movies have allowed me to explore the Broadway scene and attend movies on a regular basis, something I’m extremely passionate about doing. The Columbia routine can be grueling and it is because of the Arts Initiative that students can take a break and explore the amazing city where thy chose to attend school.
In addition, I have participated in countless theater productions, an experience that has enriched and defined my Columbia experience. I have found my niche on campus and helped create phenomenal student productions. I am currently assistant producing KCST’s production of Romeo and Juliet and I have learned firsthand the importance of funding like the Gatsby Fund. Without these, students can not work together to create wonderful works of art for the Columbia community as well as finding themselves within their personal theater community.
Please consider maintaing the Arts Initiative at Columbia. It has shaped my years at Columbia and I hope that it continues to play an important role in Columbia students’ lives for years to come.
During my time at Columbia, I saw many more shows on Broadway and off-Broadway due to CU Arts’ discounts. As a performer, designer, and stage manager for over fifteen student shows, CU Arts events on campus and promotion/organization of student theatre were central to my experience at Columbia.
CUArts has given me, in my first year, the ability to continue to develop my skill in something that I love to do. The incredible resources available have made my performing arts experience at Columbia unlike any experience I’ve had elsewhere. I want future generations of Columbia students to be able to say the same thing. I want them to be able to find a place in the huge Columbia University co-curricular world as easily and quickly as I did. Maintaining appropriate funding to CUArts will help make that happen.
The arts initiative is one of the main reasons I chose Columbia/Barnard! Some of my best college memories were made because of CUArts
People are drawn to Columbia from all around the world to experience the culture in New York.
Please Save Arts Initiative!
I came to Barnard specifically for the dance program and I would hate to see our access to the incredible arts worlds Columbia and New York City have to offer be taken away!
For me, the CUArts Initiative has been my incentive and nudge to realize that I live in New York. Do us a favor and give it some money and attention.
The Arts Initiative and all its benefits drew me to Columbia, as it did for many. But now, as a member of the undergraduate theatre community at Columbia, I’ve seen how the Arts Initiative transcends the shopping list of benefits it advertises to potential Columbians. It is more than free museum access or cheap theatre seats—it’s a Friday afternoon with Picasso and Manet, it’s someone’s first Broadway show, it’s a concert at the New York Philharmonic. It is the ability to take advantage of the immense cultural opportunities in the city. The Arts Initiative is also a backbone of student performing arts. Not only do the Gatsby Grants support shows financially, but the TIC allows us—Columbia students—to see our peer’s productions. I know for a fact that student theatre depends on the benefits that the Arts Initiative offers. I have found an incredible home in the Columbia undergraduate theatre community—from being a part of CMTS and Varsity Show, to meeting friends in other groups on campus. To loose support for the Arts Initiative would be a loss of support for Columbia students—from the students who are up all night making budgets and timelines for their shows, to the students seeing their first opera at the Met, to the students applying to Columbia.
The Arts Initiative was a big reason I chose Columbia, because it helps students really take advantage of the city and supplement their education. Whether it’s going to a museum to write a paper for Art Hum or seeing a play for directing class, the opportunities CU Arts offers are invaluable and must be preserved.
The Arts Initiative adds a vital aspect to the Columbia community. Without it, I know that I would not have met many of my greatest friends. By supporting student theatre groups such as KCST, latenite, and others, the Arts Initiative has created a space for expression and a strong theatre community.
One of Columbia’s strongest points as a university is all of the opportunity for firsthand exploration of arts and culture that its location in New York City offers. When you think about it, it’s actually pretty amazing that we can go and watch a performance of La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera right after learning about it in a Music Hum class. The hallmark of a Columbia education is its Core Curriculum; and the Arts Initiative adds a vital dimension to what we learn in Core classes. The arts are a field that are best understood and appreciated when they are experienced – and New York offers us incredible opportunities to do just this. On a college student budget, however, this can be a little out of reach of most – which is why the Arts Initiative is one of the essential complements to a Columbia education. Please restore it to its full potential!
CUArts has touched me significantly through the Passport to New York program. Though I am a musician, my many visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been hugely inspiring to me, encouraging to diversify my artistic palate and to compose more creatively. Columbia has a large and unique arts community-few other institutions blend academia and creative expression so fruitfully-and that community deserves support.
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The reason why we live in this city.
A huge part of the reason I made the choice to come to Columbia was its immersion in the arts and this fantastic city. It’s heartbreaking to see that commitment to creativity dampened. As an artist myself, I no longer feel like a valued member of this community. Please – give your students the opportunity to broaden their horizons beyond Wall Street.
The arts are essential for a sense of community on campus. Please support the arts for the sake of everyone!
As the parent of a Freshman very much interested in the arts it is very disappointing to learn of this. Columbia has always stressed how the Arts are an important part of a well rounded education–this should not be forgotten nor diminished.
CU Arts is also instrumental in helping the theater groups on campus operate. My involvement in the Columbia Musical Theater Society and Varsity Show would have been impossible without the financial help of CU Arts and its subsidiaries. I can personally say that my designs and the designs of countless other students could not have been executed without CU Arts’ help. If there was less funding for these groups I would never built the leadership skills and found the amazing friends in the arts.
On a little bit larger level, many groups at Columbia use the TIC for ticket sales. While there is something nice about having all those lime green tickets as souvenirs, it serves an administrative purpose as well. One is able to know how many people are actually coming and generate revenue for the group.
And on the NYC level… When you present your CUID to enter a museum free of charge, the smile coming across people’s faces (from volunteers at the museum to other museum goers) – the amazement that a large (sometimes distant) university supports the arts and their communities appreciation of the arts has always been one of the moments I am most proud to be a Columbian. Through CU Arts I have also seen a whole host of shows with my classes – greatly enriching my classroom and NY experience.
I can’t imagine my time at Columbia without these resources. Budget constraints are a reality, but this initiative is defined by the fact that money should not inhibit creativity. This initiative builds a sense of community and strengthens appreciation and involvement in the arts and that is something I couldn’t put a price on.
The Arts Initiative is capable of so much more than I’ve seen it do.
As a former member of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative (whose mission of bringing first-class dance opportunities to Columbia/Barnard students was among the reasons I transferred to Columbia from The Juilliard School), I cannot express enough how detrimental it would be to CBC and to the Columbia community to lose the ability to perform on campus at Miller Theater. If Columbia prides itself on highlighting arts education as a key tenet of the Core Curriculum, it cannot justify refusing CBC and other student arts organizations the space and funding necessary to present their works to the campus community. It is not enough to foster a vague arts appreciation among the student body – affording the chances to create and share new art works, i.e. promoting experiential education, is absolutely essential to fulfill the university’s intention to develop students fully capable of making meaningful contributions to society.
Columbia’s relationship with the arts in New York is a critical and integral part of the university. To lose that would be devastating to the education of its students.
Save the Arts Initiative!
The CU Arts Initiative was huge factor in my decision to apply and attend Columbia. As a a student of theater, the Arts Initiative has allowed me to experience countless theatrical works that I would have not been able to afford otherwise. Additionally, as a member of several campus theater groups, I have grown to truly appreciate the importance of the TIC in disseminating the work of student-theater makers to the wider Columbia community. I recently assistant directed a student theater production through CU Players, and our set was almost exclusively by the Gatsby Grant we received. More generally though, the Arts Initiative is an integral educational force on campus. Last year, I saw BAM’s Richard III with my Contemporary Civilization class. Experiences like these uphold the true aim of the core, and to watch the Initiative fall into obscurity would be to destroy an imperative artistic, cultural, and educational force on campus.
Save CUArts
The CU Arts Initiative is partially responsible for my having a job right out of college. In conjunction with the Center for Career Education, CUArts runs the Columbia Arts Experience (CAE), which offers undergraduates internships in arts administration. Thanks to this program, I developed the connections I needed to secure a position with the New York Philharmonic, an organization that likely would not have hired me without the skills and experience I gained through CAE.
CUArts also played a significant role in helping the CU Wind Ensemble’s Columbia Festival of Winds (CFW) become a reality through generous Gatsby grants over the past four years. Without their support, CFW would not have existed my freshman year, most likely preventing the Wind Ensemble from pursuing its free music education program at P.S. 125, Making Music Matter.
The Arts Initiative is one of the biggest reasons I came to Columbia. I can’t imagine going here without the opportunities to “learn outside the classroom” that CUArts offers.
As a dance major, a member of KCST and CUP, and an intern at a major New York City art museum, I cannot tally in this post the amount of benefits the Arts Initiative has provided me with. Without these benefits, my college experience would have been diminished significantly.
One of my most classic New York experiences was the day my friends and I hiked down Museum Mile and visited four major museums in one day. Later that week we went to MOMA and added a fifth. The access CUArts has provided to these major cultural institutions is part of what makes Columbia such an amazing place – it ensures that students can take advantage of the best that New York has to offer, without having to worry about cost.
As a music and Italian student, CU Arts has allowed me to attend a number of Italian operas at the Met each season!
CUArts is a fantastic resource and extraordinarily important. It needs to be restored to its former self.
The Art Initiative is a gem that distinguishes Columbia. To me, it is an extension of the core curriculum, providing students with the abundant cultural resources in New York. In addition to giving students access to world-renown museums, the Art Initiative also helps to fund many wonderful organizations and events on campus. It would be an absolute shame to cut the Art Initiative.
Please save the arts initiative, the arts are vital to so many at the Columbia community.
The CU Arts Initiative is a constant resource for me to only explore a city I’m coming to know as my own as well as shown me a strong community of creative minds here on campus. Keeping the Arts Initiative means supporting the brilliant minds of Columbia in whatever they pursue, whether it is their own artistic expression or having the means to find new passions by exploring New York City.
CUArts is so integral to my and many others Columbia experience. We must fight to keep it alive!!
CU Arts is one of the reasons I came to Columbia. Being a student at Columbia is of course an incredible opportunity academically, and I appreciate that Columbia has given me the chance to live and learn in the city. That being said, one of the most unique things that I believe that Columbia does for its students is the CU Arts program. It’s one thing to get to live in the same city as Broadway, experimental theater, the Met Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonic, and dozens of incredible museums. It’s an entirely other matter to actually be able to afford every single one of these cultural opportunities. Without CU Arts, I know that I would not have had such a rich and fulfilled experience from the city. I truly believe that I learn as much as I do from New York as I do in my classrooms here on campus. Professors in my classes, particularly those of the Core, have consistently made deliberate efforts to take advantage of the free museum visits and discounted theater tickets and everything else CU Arts offers in order to enrich our class experience.
Without CU Arts, several incredible productions here on campus by students would not be possible. When I see my friends’ performances or art galleries or magazines, I am amazed at the level of professionalism and beauty that is present. CU Arts is truly an initiative that helps students’ ideas come to life. I cannot express how heartbreaking it is to have a picture of this beautiful thing that you believe you can create and you know would be cultivated into something wonderful, but do not have the money. Columbia has consistently told me and my peers that money should not be an issue when it comes to academic and cultural dreams.
Without financial aid, I know that I would not have been able to come to Columbia. Similarly, without CU Arts, I would not have been able to take advantage of everything that the city has to offer. Without CU Arts, my friends in the theater department would not be able to make their dreams of intricate set design a reality. Without CU Arts, photography and writing publications on campus would suffer, no longer giving students the opportunity to express themselves in a professional way in one of the most dynamic cities in the world.
I am a tour guide for Columbia, and I always talk about CU Arts. Consistently, it is one of the highlights of the tour that causes potential parents and students to smile and nod as they recognize my passion for the program and what it does for students. Enriching CU Arts would allow the program, which is already incredible, to do even more for its students and faculty. CU Arts was and is an incredibly unique idea. By supporting this program, Columbia University will show its understanding of just how intuitive CU Arts is in understanding the needs of its community. CU Arts not only enriches students’ appreciation and talent on campus, but in the city as well.
Thank you for the support of CU Arts thus far, and I believe that further support of CU Arts will allow for more students than before to enjoy the benefits of this incredible program.
As a student coming from a performing arts high school, one of the things that attracted me to an undergraduate college within the Columbia University community was the CUArts Initiative its subsequent opportunities. As a former ballet dancer, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, allowed me a vehicle through which to continue performing on a professional level, while also understanding my vigorous academic life. Additionally, I feel I’ve greatly benefited from watching my peers perform in other groups such as the Varsity Show, CMTS, Orchesis, and many more. Talent is something that should be encouraged for the sake of society. Who wants to live in a world void of beauty? Save the arts, don’t squash them.
As a former CU student theatre participant, I owe my four years to the Arts Intiative. Without it, I would never have produced Black Comedy, been a Madame, a Russian spy, a soldier, or roman. Without it , I would never seen the master pieces and student masterpieces that have shaped my world view. Without it, I would never have made some of my best friends. Without it, my Columbia experience would not have been the same. Save the arts.
The reason I came to Columbia was to be in New York City, and the reason I wanted to be in New York City was to have access to all of the museums, galleries, and music events that the city offers. These are vital parts of a young person’s education, and can’t be compromised.
CU Arts is a fundamental resource at Columbia. Don’t let it go under.
Coming from a middle class family on Long Island, the Arts Initiative has allowed me to attend events throughout New York City that I would have never been able to attend otherwise–a $10 ticket to the opera at Lincoln Center for Music Humanities, special exhibits at museums for my global core curriculum, and many many free visits to the Met, my favorite museum. Without the Arts Initiative these experiences wouldn’t have shaped who I am as a person, and will cease to shape future Columbia students. My cousin, a Vietnam veteran, one of only two family members in my mother’s generation to go to college, and one of my role models, in a sigh of regret once told me to “learn everything you can.” Without proper funding for the Arts Initiative, I wouldn’t be able to.
The Arts are what get me up in the morning. As a student leader in on-campus theatre and an actor/composer, I understand the impact of seeing professional arts on students who want to pursue a career in the arts. The Arts Initiative allowed me to see numerous shows that influenced my work here on campus: Peter and the Starcatcher at NYTW and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Public to name a few. These works, not to mention the countless operas or paintings I was able to see live and write about, helped define me as an artist. I want more students to be able to have the experience I had. The only way to do this is to make this program stronger, make funding more available for student groups, make leadership more responsive, and every other aspect that our Arts Community as outlined.
Arts at Columbia is super important…save The Arts Initiative.
The Arts Initiative helped me see my very first Broadway show – something I had only dreamed about growing up in Hawaii. Theater has become one of my favorite things about this city, and one of the reasons I love attending this school. In the hugely stressful environment that is Columbia, the Arts Initiative helped me take the time to enjoy life a little more.
CUArts is what makes Columbia the school that it is. It allows us to explore fully the “in the city of New York” part of our title. Without CUArts, so many members of the Columbia community couldn’t take advantage of the resources Columbia offers–the museums, the operas, the shows. This is a program we need–don’t throw it away!
The CU Arts Initiative and the access it provided was one of the reasons I chose Columbia, and definitely why I am an art history concentrator. I cannot imagine my college experience without it, and can only anticipate the absence in the lives of future Columbia students if the CU Arts Initiative continues in its dissolution.
CUArts must be saved!!!
In the same way that the Core Curriculum is the glue that unites our community, the Arts Initiative is the glue that binds our community to that of New York City. In fact, it’s the primary way in which students officially interact with the city. If we are to remain Columbia University in the City of New York, the Arts Initiative must remain robust, well-funded, and, most importantly, well-run.
The Columbia Arts Initiative not only helped fund countless projects that I took part in, but also allowed me to experience the wonder that is the New York City art, theatre, and dance scene and did so at a rate that made it affordable to a student on financial aid. They helped provide an integral part of my experience at Columbia, and can take credit for some of the defining moments of my undergraduate career. Without them, Columbia College would be deprived one of it’s best qualities: its access to all the art and culture New York City has to offer. Please reconsider the school’s dedication to the program.
The arts program is one of Columbia’s best attributes, it’s absurd and illogical the the University would cut its funding!
The talent these programs foster fuels the next generation of performers. To lose these programs is to lose the future of Lincoln Center and Broadway.
The Arts Initiative was the second reason I came to Columbia. Varsity show was the first.
As a theatre major, the Arts Initiative has provided me with the opportunity to actively pursue my avid interest in theatre, both on and off campus. Aside from having been to see spectacular shows such as “Once The Musical”, “Peter and the Starcatcher”, “The Common Pursuit”, the Arts Initiative has given me the opportunity to connect with my peers through theatre, both through attending shows and being a part of them (most recently as Props Assistant on KCST’s A Midsummer Nights’ Dream). As a transfer student, the Arts Initiative was an integral part of my settling into a community I felt I could really thrive, and without it, I probably would not have gotten the chance to get to know the many gifted and brilliant people of the Columbia community I know today. Please save the Arts Initiative!
The Arts Initiative has given me the opportunity to establish a strong support system within my first few weeks at Columbia. It allowed me to be in an amazing production from the beginning of my freshman year where I was able to grow as an artist and a person.
The wide variety and popularity of student driven arts are one of the hallmarks of Columbia, and set it apart from its peer institutions. CU Arts initiative makes this possible.
What’s the point of going to school in the city if its greatest cultural resources are inaccessible to students?
Opportunity.
CU Arts and Passport to Columbia are some of the most important programs the university offers. What is the point of having our university in New York City if the university doesn’t foster interaction with the museums and cultural events the city offers?
For all of the amazing opportunities it gives us, please save the arts!
From tickets to Wicked to free access to the Met and MoMA, the Arts Initiative has helped me integrate my academic life with the city. The luxury of being able to write an ArtHum paper in front of the painting I’m focusing on, and coming back as many times as I want to double check the accuracy and strength of said paper, has made my ArtHum and Art History experiences unforgettable. It’s encouraged me to stay actively interested in Art History, even though it’s not my major, or even my secondary interest. Tickets to performances have helped me make friends, explore the city, and make the Columbia community a bigger part of my life here at school. Please save the Arts Initiative!
Orchesis was a great way for me to get involved when I first came to campus–it made Columbia feel like home.
Save the Arts!
The CUArts Initiative is one of the premier reasons why I choose to in fact come to Columbia. As a Computer Science major, to be able to participate in the arts through the wonderful support of the initiative has definitely helped me follow the path that will one day make me into the person I am. It has been an integral part in defining what it means to be a participant in the world, and gives students the opportunity to explore all the amazing experiences in New York that help capture the very fundamental expressions of what it means to be alive through art, music and passion.
Coming from a small town in Utah, part of what drew me to Columbia was the opportunity to spend 4 years in New York City. I love theater and music and museums, so to me LIVING in New York meant a wealth of opportunities to engage in these art forms. I am on financial aid and even still struggle to pay the bill every year, often working 3 jobs while taking a more than full load of classes. I don’t have a lot of money sitting around to spend on the things I love doing in this wonderful city, and so getting here and seeing a program built for people just like me – people who love the cultural experience, but can’t afford it – was amazing. I have been to countless cultural events in this city my last 3 and a half years and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the Arts Initiative. It is a special part of this school that must remain so that future small town kids can excitedly call home their first year when they see Placido Domingo live at the Met Opera…acting! For only $30! Thank you CUARTS
The Arts have definitely influenced my time at Columbia and it would be quite a shame if these benefits no longer existed. I have had many class trips to museums funded by the Arts.
As an international student, the Arts Initiative has not only allowed me to experience a variety of cultural activities that would otherwise be out of my financial reach, but it has also introduced me to opportunities and museums that I would have likely never discovered without the Arts Initiative.
Please save the arts!
I was part of KCST all 8 semesters, and those shows led to most of my closest friendships now. Every student deserves to have that kind of community.
I myself am not a student at Columbia University. However, the talent I have seen come out of that school and the brilliant minds that come in and out of its classrooms everyday must have that well-rounded education. As an artist living in NYC, it is not just important, but imperative that the arts are taught to everyone. Stuff’s universal.
CU Arts Initiative is one of the most important bridges between our campus and the city.
The Arts Initiative is one of Columbia’s strongest selling points. Let’s not let it weaken.
As the former Treasurer of KCST, the Arts Initiative allowed KCST to flourish. Personally, the Passport program as well as Artslink enabled me access to the arts around the city, especially theatre performances and museums, something I would not have been able to afford had it not been for these programs.
The performing arts here at Columbia gave me a purpose. I made my friends by joining these student groups. I found my niche, and am now proud that I found a meaningful way to spend my energy by leading these groups. The Arts Initiative is the life blood of these groups that I love. Even in the short 2 years and 2 months that I have gone to this school, I have seen CUArts begin to fall. This is unacceptable, and deeply upsets me. President Bollinger made a promise to the Columbia Arts community that we will have his support. This has not happened. We have fallen out of his interest, and it is time to make him and his office understand that we are a group worth fighting for. Sign this petition. A declining arts scene on campus will negatively affect everyone. Join us, help your friends, save the Arts Initiative.
One of the biggest factors in making the decision to come to Columbia was that we had access to all the wonderful art museums and broadway shows as students. One of the greatest things about being in New York is being part of this artistic scenery, and I have always valued CUArts and its efforts to allow students on college budgets to enjoy the time of their lives by giving us special access to these wonderful museums, shows, etc.
Columbia will lose much of its spirit that so many have cherished over the years should it decide to not preserve this resource anymore
The Arts Initiative is an amazing program that makes the wonderful opportunities of New York City accessible to the student population. This effort should be lauded rather than undermined!
The arts are such a fundamental part of education as a whole. Art allows us to turn our stress into creativity. We tell our stories through our art. We learn how to be empathetic through the arts, as we learn to listen to an look at the beauty in honest expression. It’s so important to carry the creativity and empathy cultivated through the arts into both the classroom and into our lives. Harnessing these qualities in students will allow them to be as good at listening to the ideas and opinions of others as they are at articulating their own, and gain a sense of confidence to put those ideas into action. The CU Arts Initiative has transformed the lives of so many students, including myself, and is such a fundamental component of the education that Columbia has to offer. It must be given the recognition and preservation it deserves.
The opportunity to see shows at a price I can afford and walking into a museum knowing that I can enter for free–these things are PRICELESS.
The Arts Initiative is one of the main reasons why all of us chose Columbia in the first place. What would art or music hum be like without being able to cheaply see a show or go to the museum?
The Arts Initiative is not only a great way for students to take advantage of what the city has to offer, but also provides an excellent outlet for the stress of student life. The decline of this program will only serve to hurt the student body.
Why should an Economics Major sign such a petition to save an Arts program? Why should I be concerned with an initiative whose survival could culminate into potential raises in tuition costs? Because, simply put, Art is knowledge-augmentive, and aggrandizing the set of abilities and skills of the workforce is one key role to long-sustained economic growth. So, do you think Art is a platitudinous affair that renders no value to society? Maybe you should reconsider it by the next time a multimillionaire, owner of that industry that makes your late-fashion goods and services, spends unimaginable large sums of money to acquire a masterpiece. Art also fuels the economy. The only “ugly art” is that of holding a prejudice against a not only cultural, but also economic activity of our society.
The CU Arts Initiative is deeply important to me personally, as well as to so many of my friends, and I feel should have a permanent place in this University. In its heyday, the Arts Initiative brought Vaclav Havel to campus in one of the most historic and productive residencies ever. Now a shell of its former self, the Arts Initiative still makes a difference, like helping to fund ‘ShakeShorts,’ a brilliant sold-out production by KCST where I made my first arts friends, but all of that is slowly fading away. The arts community is my community at Columbia and to see administrative support for it fading away is tragic. While Athletics is its own school on giving day, raking in historic proportions of money, the arts community lies neglected, we are just as big and important to our culture and we arguably attract more people to watch us. Columbia without the arts would not be the Columbia that I love.
In my experience, the Arts Initiative is just as essential to Columbia University as the Core Curriculum. It’s a program that not only attracts prospective students, faculty, administrators, etc. but also unifies the Columbia community in a common endeavour to engage with the cultures and communities of New York City. The Arts Initiative plays an integral role in creating the types of scholars Columbia and the Core specifically hope to breed: well-rounded, cultured individuals with a strong sense of community.
As an art history major, visual artist, and lifelong supporter of the arts, I greatly value the services and opportunities the CUArts Initiative provides. I would very much like to see these reforms put in place, so students like myself can continue to engage with CUArts and fuel their passion for the arts
Coming to Columbia meant not only getting a great education, but being able to experience the greatest cultural center in the world. Though I have to rely heavily on financial aid to pay for my classroom experience, I did not have to worry about missing out on New York City. CUArts meant that regardless of economic status, I can explore New York City to its fullest.
I am both a student theatre leader, theatre major and a person who wants to take the tumultuous and passionate journey into the arts as my life’s work. The CUArts initiative is a program I have admired and valued throughout my time in college. Not only am I required to attend plays each semester for my Theatre History and Dramatic Literature classes, but the shows I run, act in and produce as the Vice President of the Columbia Musical Theatre Society, a Varsity Show Alum, actor for NOMADS, CUP and XMAS all use the TIC to sell tickets. My passions are realized by this initiative and the Columbia community is a more artistic, creative and cultural place because of it.
The Arts Initiative is a resource that must be preserved.
As a foreign student who wanted to explore the art scene in New York, CUArts has been FUNDAMENTAL in educating, informing and opening doors for me. I absolutely love receiving the weekly newsletter and having the opportunity to access so many incredible cultural institutions with student discounts.
In fact, CUArts is one of the reasons why I chose Columbia over NYU.
If we want Columbia graduates to continue to be well-rounded individuals, we have to make sure that we continue to support CUArts and its mission.
Thank you.
The Arts Initiative has been an extremely positive force during my four years here at Columbia. It is undeniable that the quality of the program has decreased (i.e., decreases in Gatsby Grant, Employed Staff, and overall operating budget). It simply doesn’t make sense to decrease support for a program that is highly valued, highly successful at accomplishing its mission of bringing the performing arts to Columbia students, and highly utilized to advertise Columbia to the larger community. I hope that, for the sake of future students (who, if they entered Columbia now would have an objectively worse experience with the Arts Initiative than I did), and for Columbia’s own position as a world-class educational institution, you will consider the points above and revise the structure of the Arts Initiative in a way that better reflects its valued position within this university.
As a major in Theater and Classics, the Arts Initiative has provided me with the tools to make my education at Columbia not purely theoretical but actual and connected to the world outside of the university. New York City provides this unique opportunity to take advantage of cultural, artistic, and intellectual resources and events. I myself have been enabled to visit museums with unparalleled classical collections as well as to partake in numerous professional theatrical performances. Additionally, as a theater practitioner, I have received the benefits of the funding to student arts groups, benefits which have allowed me to direct a full-scale performance in a fully operating black box theater. Of course, the success of the Arts Initiative makes its decline and potential disappearance all the more scary for future undergraduates. I have noticed such a decline, primarily through several museums’ decisions to drop out of Passport to Columbia, through the new restrictions to ArtsLink (which have prevented my very small directing class from meeting the required 20 students necessary to get a discount to a performance), and through the decreasing funding to student productions through Gatsby grants. Also, after doing research into the past heights of the Arts Initiative, I feel cheated out of the wonderful opportunities presented to Columbia undergraduates who came before me: the idea that a great theater figure like Vaclav Havel or Peter Brook would come to Columbia and engage with undergraduates is now one that seems impossible. I believe that a university ranked as well as Columbia and as lucratively paid (due to its undergraduate institutions) as Columbia should rise to the challenge of providing an unparalleled arts education to every Columbia student.
The Arts Initiative is one of the main reasons many of us chose this University. To say we still have access to the best art and theatre in the city at a discounted price is untruthful when looking at all we have lost in the past few years. This is a valuable program for all students, not just those of us who major/concentrate in the arts. The program takes us off campus and allows us to experience some of the best art available. By taking that away, the University is not only using false advertising but is also disappointing many current, former, and future students. Save the Initiative!
I joined Columbia University Artist’s Society, and without the CU Arts Initiative we would be unable to hire professional models or provide a range of communal supplies to artists. In addition, the Passport to Columbia is an essential part of my education as an art history major. Please continue supporting the CU Arts Initiative.
One of the reasons I wanted to come to New York in the first place is the exposure to art. The CU Arts Initiative has helped me to remember to leave the campus and explore what the city has to offer. I also am looking forward to becoming more emerged in the art community on campus!
The CUArts Initiative has been a key reference for me to know all of the art-related events that occur on campus (not to mention the list of museums that offer free admission to CU students is useful too)! Without that reference, it’d be a lot harder to keep myself aware of what’s happening on campus. Even accomplishing that– keeping students in the know about art-related happenings on campus– shows that CUArts serves an important purpose.
CUArts has exposed me to so many events around the city at a price most students wouldn’t have been able to afford.
As a tour guide, I talk about CU Arts to every group of visiting students. Judging from their reactions, it is without doubt one of the most universally attractive aspects of Columbia.
But in a more personal level, I think the Arts Initiative is one of Columbia’s most important programs. It has taken me around the city, not to mention co-sponsoring some of our campuses best student work. As a result, it has helped provide me with a richer college experience than any number of classes could create.
At this point, we should be talking about how to expand the Arts Initiative rather than how to save it altogether!
I absolutely love the student discounts to museums! I still have not gotten around to going to the Guggenheim, but I was looking forward to going there. Thank goodness I already made it to the Frick. Other than that, I’m always at the MoMA and the Met, and I’ve been to many other museums as well.
I use TIC to get tickets to student performances, movies, and off campus shows. I love having it as a resource!! Although, with prices not as low as I used to know them, I don’t buy tickets as often.
I worked so hard in high school to get establish the arts as a meaningful force in the community, and so I beyond excited to finally attend an academic institution with a reputation for valuing the arts. As a freshman, I was disappointed to find out that Columbia had let such a fabulous initiative diminish so drastically, and pledge my support to seeing it revived.
Just yesterday, I visited the Nicholas Roerich Museum right on 107th and Broadway. It was an incredibly inspiring experience and is now a favorite; I know that I’ll go back quite often because there is just so much to take in and explore within the three floors. Columbia students get in for free with the CUArts Initiative. It is quite inexplicable how one quiet visit to a secluded museum could affect you. I believe that CUArts should not only work to further pioneer the arts (emulating the Nobel-Prize winning Roerich Pact of 1935) but also in maintaining student participation and knowledge of those privileges.
Part of the reason why I chose the Columbia Community was it’s strong arts community. Already as a freshmen I have found not only outlets for my passions of theater and music, but met wonderful friends through my cast and others involved in CUArts. The initiative provides countless opportunities to students that they would not otherwise have, and deserves to be supported to the utmost.
My only friends at Columbia have come from the theatre groups of which I am a part. Thanks to the shows we perform and the events we have, I am a part of the community at Columbia.
Without funding, there will be fewer shows, fewer events, and fewer chances for integrating students like myself with the wider Columbia community.
One of the reasons I chose Columbia was the fact that it had its own thriving arts community and provided an affordable and encouraging means of exploring the multitude of arts opportunities in New York City. I’m now involved in student theater, and I use CUArts to find exhibits and shows for weekend excursions, not to mention take full advantage of its student discounts (Passport to Columbia has been crucial to sustaining my budget). CUArts facilitates engagement in the Columbia community and the transformative experience of going to college in New York City that makes Columbia such an attractive choice for prospective students.
One of the greatest parts of Columbia is living in NYC, but taking advantage of the opportunities can be expensive. The Arts Initiative gave me the chance to learn so much outside of the classroom and expose myself to things that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible. My engineering curriculum didn’t overlap with the arts very much, and I firmly believe that without the Arts Initiative my college education would have been incomplete.
The Arts Initiative made me an Art History major. One of the most exciting moments of my NSOP was getting to the MoMA and finding out we didn’t have to pay–that we, as Columbia students, would get in for free. It’s one of the things that I talk about for ten minutes on tours, and that gets people excited about this school. CUArts absolutely deserves the above changes.
I am a theatre major, and have gotten to see amazing shows on and off-Broadway like Jude Law’s “Hamlet,” Alan Rickman’s “John Gabriel Borkman,” and even “Peter and the Starcatcher” because of the Arts Initiative. Even more importantly I have been involved with about fifteen student productions over the last three years, all of which have made me a part of the Columbia community, and none of which would have been possible without funding from the Arts Initiative. Please save it!
The Arts Initiative was brought me to Columbia. It has changed and bettered my entire experience here, and its programs are the backbone of the performing arts community that I am so proud to be a part of. CUArts is rightly one of the most beloved programs at Columbia, and its health and success should be a priority for any student, faculty member, or administrator.