It’s important for me to first say that it is my senior year and I will not even have the opportunity to experience this facility as a student. I may never walk its halls, yet I still feel nothing but pure excitement for the students who will benefit from the superb theater, art studios, well-lit galleries and updated classrooms that this facility will offer. I want the best for the students who will come after me, as we all should, and I truly believe that this building will provide each student with an experience that preceding classes lacked. This experience I’m speaking of is one that is full of exploration, transformation, artistic freedom and exposure to diverse perspectives and people. The arts can provide such an experience, as it requires different ways of engaged thinking, the study of various cultures, the analysis of words and images, and the development of excellent communication skills that aid clear expression of profound thoughts and ideas. All of the above skills can enhance professional and personal lives, and can be applied to various areas of study. The new Center for the Arts is not a building for only art and theater majors to benefit from, but rather it has the potential to enrich every person on campus.
Secondly, I’m so proud that Wofford chose to reveal this gift in a significant way. This facility will be an academic addition to our campus, and since our institution is based on (believe it or not) academics, I found the assembly in Old Main very appropriate. Furthermore, I am honored to attend a college that recognizes the role that the arts play in a liberal arts education. Unfortunately, Wofford has been a bit behind in sufficiently incorporating the arts, yet great efforts have been made to do so in recent years. The number of courses offered in music, art history, studio art and theater have more than doubled in the last decade. During my freshman year there was only one art studio on campus and now there are four. Wofford recently approved a studio art minor, and despite being available for only nine weeks, thirteen students are already planning to achieve t his minor. This facility is a direct response to the growth these areas have experienced. Its presence on campus will recognize the arts in such a way that allows us to finally stand strongly alongside the schools that we compare ourselves to, such as Davidson, Furman and Sewanee, who all have degree-granting programs in visual arts as well as satisfactory facilities for the arts. For those who feel that our current arts facilities are already adequate, I invite you to visit the art studios we have across campus. Their bizarre locations include the gym of an abandoned church, an abandoned school, and the basement of a sophomore dorm. These studios are not sufficient to show incoming students during tours, and they are certainly not what our students and staff deserve. The Rosalind S. Richardson Center for the Arts is much more than a generous gift; it is a response to great needs across campus, and it is hope for a stronger and more established arts community at Wofford College.
Perhaps there is concern that this new Center for the Arts will bring much diversity and change to our institution. A discussion with art history professor Dr. Peter Schmunk over these possible fears yielded this eloquent response: “The student body will become less homogenous, more intellectually and experientially pluralistic. But isn’t that a good thing? Do young people really want to come to Wofford to be only around others just like themselves? Doesn’t everyone gain from being exposed to different perspectives, people with different backgrounds and experiences? If college is anything, it should be a time to try different things, to get out of one’s comfort zone now and then, and, in so doing, think and feel something new and potentially life-changing.”
The arts certainly have a place at Wofford College, and I am thrilled for the students who will have the opportunity to take advantage of the many experiences the Rosalind S. Richardson Center for the Arts will offer them.
— Sarah Baldwin
