Campus arts venues use alcohol to attract

Alcohol is always a big draw on college campuses.

But a new law allowing university art venues to sell alcoholic beverages isn’t meant to tempt undergraduates. It’s meant to attract the outside community.

Up until now, local showcases have had a legal step-up on college campuses: they can sell a glass of wine or a beer to patrons, adding an air of swank and sophistication.

The N.C. General Assembly passed the change earlier this month, after prompting by UNC-Charlotte administrators.

UNC-C recently completed construction on a new 325-seat performing arts center, which will host performances that officials hope can hold their own against other arts venues around the bustling Charlotte metropolis.

To level the playing field, David Dunn, UNC-C’s executive assistant to the chancellor for governmental relations, pushed for the right to serve alcohol before performances and during intermission.

Dunn said the ability to serve a glass of wine will help draw in the surrounding community and make performances feel more high-end. But he said alcohol will not be served at shows geared toward students.

“Typically you put on a four- or five-night series,” he said. “We’ll pick one of those nights or two of those nights when we’ll target larger audiences.”

For one UNC-system school geared almost exclusively to artistic performances, the law could have far-reaching implications.

The N.C. School of the Arts is home to both high school and college students studying drama, dance and music. With 10 performance spaces both on and off campus, the school hosts more than 120 performances per year, said Nancy Dawson-Sauser, director of public relations for the School of the Arts.

All 10 facilities seat fewer than 2,000 people, the law’s maximum seating capacity for an arts facility allowed to sell alcohol.

School administrators have not decided if they will exercise their new right during on-campus shows.

“The fact that we have high school students ... we’d always have minors in our audience,” said Steve Davis, executive director of performance facilities at the School of the Arts. “We haven’t suddenly jumped up and started selling alcohol.”

The bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Charlie Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg, said he was assured by Dunn and other university officials that the law would not put alcohol in the hands of underage students.

Instead, Dannelly said he hopes the law will help provide a classy feel to shows attended by community professionals, while also pooling additional funds for the facilities.

One School of the Arts facility located off-campus in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem with an attached restaurant has been selling beer and wine for more than two decades. But Davis said that isn’t what’s drawing the crowds.

“Winston-Salem has a very artistically aware audience ... I think they’re coming truly to see that (event).”

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.