With Winthrop University’s plethora of fine arts programs, it should come as no surprise that the music and visual arts departments hold events throughout the year to showcase student talent.
These events, from art exhibitions to concerts, also hold educational value for students pursuing other interests.
The fine arts departments are returning in full force, after a year engulfed by COVID-19, to enrich the lives of locals.
The Department of Visual Arts will be hosting eight exhibitions in the galleries around Winthrop.
Director of Winthrop University Galleries, Karen Howard, said that her hope for the exhibitions is that “students from all across campus can engage in viewing creativity and how it influences our culture and our lives.”
As all of the exhibitions will be free of charge, all Winthrop students can take advantage.
Howard said that one of the reasons the exhibitions are so important to her is because “part of the experience that an artistic or creative person goes through in their life includes wanting people to view their work and make an impact. We need to have the opportunity to train them in how to do that.”
Chair of the Department of Music, Elisa Koehler, is also hopeful that music will once again fill the air at Winthrop.
Because COVID-19 is particularly contagious in musical settings by nature of singing or playing a wind instrument, many of the music department’s events had to forego live audiences since the start of the pandemic.
“I want students to know that we miss them coming to see us,” Koehler said. “Music is direct communication and musicians do not like to perform without an audience. The audience is our receptor for our work. We want to play for you.”
The music department will welcome live audiences at 50% capacity as long as circumstances allow. One event in the near future, according to Koehler, will be the concert during Family Weekend where the bands and choirs will play in the amphitheater.
The delta variant of COVID-19 is a threat.
“Everyone has become very adept at changing directions when we need to or making other accommodations if we need to,” Howard said.
There are manufacturers making special masks for singing and playing wind instruments, according to Koehler. This will help musical performers to continue doing what they love if another outbreak occurs.
“I think that’s the great thing about being in a liberal arts institution. Students from all across campus can engage in viewing creativity and how it influences our culture and our lives,” Howard said.
