The Deerfield.edu website states that performing arts at Deerfield “enliven the school calendar, drawing enthusiastic audiences and providing showcases for individual talents as well as group efforts.” Apparently, visual arts also “play a significant role in the life of the school, both through academic courses and co-curricular activities. Exhibitions by students and faculty, as well as by visiting artists, help shape each students’ cultural awareness and aesthetic sensitivity.”
Chamber music concerts at Deerfield, however, often attract minimal crowds, and those students who do attend are often required to be there. Meanwhile, dancers rehearse for hours for merely two nights of performances.
And unless a student frequently walks through the Russell Gallery or the basement of the Memorial Building, artists and their artwork remain anonymous.This artwork should instead be displayed in classrooms; it deserves the same amount of “talk” that any performance receives.
Since many students do not make an effort to support all areas of Deerfield, including the chamber music, theatre, and dance departments, these departments should be showcased in school meetings for all of Deerfield to see.
Let’s ensure that Deerfield is true to those ideal statements made on our own school website about the arts’ participation in community life.