Celebrating the Arts

The literary, fine, and performing arts play a vital role in the cultural and academic life of the liberal arts learning environment, without which no major research university can be called comprehensive. And the symbiosis runs both ways – our arts programs flourish in this diverse environment as well, with a great melange of majors, schools, disciplines and pursuits to color and inform an audience of spectators, critics and participants alike. That's one reason why celebrating 10 years of Spotlight on the Arts in 2021 touched every corner of campus:

 Spotlight on the Arts came roaring back with in-person events during November after a mostly virtual festival held in 2020 due to the pandemic. The arts and humanities took center stage, with more than 75 events and exhibitions offered in the literary, performing and visual arts.

Now in its 10th year, Spotlight drew more than 19,000 people to attend at least one event of the festival, bringing the cumulative number of participants during its first decade to more than 187,000.

Spotlight on the Arts was created by the UGA Arts Council, whose members include representatives from the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, College of Environment and Design, creative writing program, Department of Dance, Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Georgia Museum of Art, Georgia Review, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Ideas for Creative Exploration, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Performing Arts Center, UGA Press, UGA Libraries and Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

Slideshow courtesy of the Office of Research.

Image: University Theatre presentation of “Rent,” Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reimagining of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème.”