UVA faculty member George Sampson’s Arts Marketing Seminar is surveying the Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds—and not in a topological sense. Circulated via e-mail, a student-created survey seeks peer involvement in developing the Arts Grounds’ image.
“It will help create a marketing plan for Vice Provost for the Arts Elizabeth Turner to effectively market the new Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds,” writes class member and third year student Jessica Smith in an e-mail. “We’re doing the survey to establish the current definition of the Arts Grounds, specifically from the student perspective.”
The survey began circulation on October 7; in two days, 720 students submitted responses. After the survey is closed on October 19, the results will be analyzed in order to create a marketing plan for the Arts Grounds campaign.
Among other things, the survey asks students what types of events would draw them to the Arts Grounds, from "quiet study space" to art receptions with food and wine for students age 21 and older. Additional ideas discussed in Sampson’s class include signage, film screenings for incoming first years during summer orientation, a post-convocation reception on the Arts Grounds, and boosting advertising and connections with the Fine Arts Café.
The surveyors hope to create an atmosphere in which all of the arts at UVA are fostered, and to promote a community of artists, not an area of separate buildings.
“It’s also important to note that this term [Arts Grounds] has been around for almost five years, and yet we don’t use it,” adds Smith, an interdisciplinary major in Arts Administration.
Since late 2007, Turner has worked closely with Sampson in molding courses into academic exercises in arts development. “This year, 3 of the 4 courses I teach will focus on aspects of the Arts Grounds,” writes Sampson in an e-mail. In addition, Turner hosts monthly meetings to discuss the Arts Grounds with the “neighbors” of the UVA arts community, such as the Campbell School of Architecture, the McIntire Department of Music, and the Fayerweather Art History Department, among others.
“I guess one could say that this is one of those (rare?) times when the left hand at UVA does know what the right hand is doing,” writes Sampson, who is currently coordinating jazz musician William Parker’s residency this week.