JANUARY STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF THE MONTH: CREATIVE CAMPUS ASSEMBLY

By Hunter Holt

            Conversation and coffee–these two symbols of connectivity and community–will most likely greet you when you visit Maxwell Hall, the home of Creative Campus. A student-centered arts advocacy organization, Creative Campus is dedicated to building relationships that will serve as a voice for the cultural arts. The interns at Creative Campus–forty students with various majors and personal backgrounds–are constantly working with students, faculty, and community members in order to engage the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa with innovative ideas. Interns partake in this process, with each year at Creative Campus unique and organic in its own way, that usually results in a cultural event or an on-going project. Over the past few years, projects and events have included, for instance, a Quidditch World Cup, an LGBTQ art show, a putt-putt golf hole design contest, and a UA Sketchbook Project. Additionally, interns have worked to bring speakers to campus, such as Daniel Pink, Neil Gaiman, and Norman Fischer. However, none of these ideas would have happened without the collaborative help of well-established partners. The interns, by developing cross-campus relationships, not only learn how to work as a team but also build skills in work-ethic, organization, planning, and marketing, which, ultimately, culminates into a new-found sense of professionalism that translates into any field of work.
            Some of Creative Campus’ current projects include The Nest and the Druid City Arts Festival (DCAF). With The Nest project, Creative Campus will build a larger-than-life nest to be displayed as a symbol of rejuvenation in the midst of the tornado's destruction. Working with Kelly Shannon, a new grad student in the sculpture department at the University of Alabama, we'll collect branches and other tornado debris, have businesses, organizations, schools, and individuals in and around Tuscaloosa paint the branches, and then re-collect and re-assemble the painted branches into a brightly-colored nest sculpture. According to Naomi Thompson, a second-year intern at Creative Campus, “The Nest will be a really creative way to help Tuscaloosa re-build itself, literally and symbolically, and it’s something new that we all kind of need concerning the rebirth of our community and ourselves.” She hopes that, by weaving together the pieces of our fragmented community, The Nest will provide those affected by the April tornado with a compelling symbol of recovery, comfort, warmth, and growth. On February 4th and 5th, Creative Campus will meet at the TVARC in Alberta, go out into the community, and collect remaining debris for the project. Any volunteers are welcome to assist in this service. The assembling and painting of the Nest will take place as a community event in mid-February at a currently unspecified location.
             After The Nest, the third annual DCAF, a celebration of local art, music, and storytelling in downtown Tuscaloosa, will commence in March. Through a partnership with the SGA, there will be a week of activities–poetry readings, theatre performances, visual art displays–aimed at highlighting regional art to the University of Alabama student-body. Following this arts-engagement week, Creative Campus will present a Music Crawl in local bars, galleries, and alternative venues throughout Downtown Tuscaloosa on Friday, March 23. The festival will then culminate in an all-day, FREE, multi-genre, family-friendly arts festival in Government Plaza on Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 11 am - 7 pm. Kurt Key, an intern working on sponsorship for the festival, feels that this year’s event will “differentiate itself from the past two years with an amped emphasis on community and an increased presence of local businesses and street vendors.” Applications for bands and artists to participate in the festival can be found at www.druidcityartsfest.com. The deadline for band applications is January 27 and the deadline for artists is February 1.
            If you’re interested in joining the conversation at Creative Campus, intern applications for the 2012-2013 school year will be available at www.creativecampus.ua.edu in mid-February. Additionally, if you’re simply interested in developing an idea with us or assisting us on a current project, visit our website or stop by Maxwell Hall, and we’ll gladly drink some coffee, share our interests, and discuss how to take the possibility of your idea or contribution from “What if?” to “Why not?”.