New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Russian National Ballet. NBC Newsman Tim Russert.
Fairfield’s Quick Center for the Arts makes the arts available to everyone with its insightful speakers and performers for the campus and Fairfield community.
The only thing missing from most of the events is Fairfield University students in the 740-seat Kelley Theatre or 150-seat Wien Experimental Theatre, which together host an average 500 arts events per year.
“We try to do something for everyone here in terms of the type of programming,” said Director of Programming Deborah Sommers, “But that’s also cost prohibitive.”
Though the Quick Center staff wishes that student attendance would increase, they notice that students mostly attend when faculty requires them to.
Tickets are earmarked for students, but when the free student tickets, which could be sold to the public instead, are unused, the center loses revenue.
“You can’t let tickets just die away,” Sommers said.
Sommers also said that many performers have high-profile names and are sold out in advance. If students don’t take advantage of tickets, they go back for sale to the broader community.
The Quick Center is ticket revenue and fundraising dependent; the center does not receive money from student tuition or the government’s Arts Endowment Fund. It is for this reason that 90 percent of its events are geared toward the community and public.
Some students such as Kate McGann ’08 are annoyed that so much attention is focused on the community. McGann, who wanted to attend a lecture for extra credit for a class, was unable to see NBC Newsman Russert last month. But she was one of several students who could not secure a seat in the theater.
When asked if she thought that Quick Center events are geared toward the community, McGann replied, “absolutely, hands down, definitely.” She observed that the majority of the audience were townspeople.
Mary McCall ’09, who did get a free ticket, noticed similar demographics at the Russert event. The audience was “mostly adults” and “definitely packed … it was more focused toward the Fairfield community.” McCall also admitted that she would not have gone if her professor hadn’t required it.
University President Father Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., also agreed that it’s an “important part of our outreach to the community … and the community loves it.” But at a press conference earlier this semester, he spoke of the need for more cultural programming for students as the university looks to offer alternatives to partying.
“Social life is important too, frankly,” said von Arx. He stressed that development of cultural life on campus would help tie life in the classroom with life outside of the classroom and foster an even better quality of life for students.
This year, the Quick Center is featuring events such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Dave Samuels and The Caribbean Jazz Project and recreations of vintage radio dramas.
The Open Visions Forum series is also held at the center and featured Newsman Russert, Writer and Educator Leonard Fein, Author Isabel Allende and Neurologist Oliver Sacks.
Members of the off-campus community such as Ryan Odinak, executive director of the Fairfield arts council (FAC), expressed appreciation for the Quick Center.
“I think the Quick is a fantastic community resource and the association of the Quick to Fairfield U can only be a positive one,” he said.
FAC holds their annual Artist of the Year event at the center and receives a very positive response. It is especially useful for “building audiences” and bringing people together, Odinak said
FUSA president Jess DiBuono ’06 applauds the Quick Center, believing that it can “serve as a great forum for both community and University students to gather and attend lots of diverse events.” For Open Visions fans, the Dean of Students office offers some tickets to a limited number of students, she said.
Sommers also said that the Quick Center generally only sells half the tickets to the community to pay for the Open Visions Forum.
The other 200 to 300 tickets are offered through the faculty, she said, who then have the “responsibility to utilize those tickets for their classes.”
Sommers encourages students to explore the Quick Center and get involved in upcoming events like Opera Verdi Europa or Ballet Flamenco José Porcel. Many students may discover unknown interests like dance or jazz in the process.
She said, “It isn’t for everybody … but it might inspire you!”
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