The Arts Innovation Steering Committee is still looking for its focus.
In its second meeting last Friday in the Student Union, Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s collection of University officials in artistic and academic policy offered few concrete goals.
But the committee, which Medlin hopes will form the backbone of his eventual legacy at UNC, continues to foster big dreams.
“I’d love to create a central resource on campus where a student interested in painting can rent paintbrushes and paint, just like you can do with basketball,” Medlin said.
Committee members are quick to compare UNC and its artistic and innovative community to those at other universities for inspiration and otherwise.
“We’ve always had a desire for a more creative campus,” said Jim Hirschfield, chairman of the Department of Art. Hirschfield encouraged the committee to examine the successes of Vanderbilt University’s Creative Campus initiative, a project that has significantly increased the artistic presence on that campus.
“All art all the time is well worth working on,” Hirschfield said.
Earlier discussions in meetings and on the committee’s e-mail listserv concerning a distributed report on the state of the arts in 2008 at Harvard University frequently mentioned the areas in which UNC has an advantage over Harvard.
Even as it searches for meaning, the committee’s high-profile membership could help it impact arts policy decisions.