USS to Pay for Student Art

By having Drama students act in plays written by Lang or General Studies students, with sets and costumes by Parsons, ICAP will be able to build community while putting on quality productions.

In effort to cultivate community, the University Student Senate has begun the Intercollegiate Collaborative Arts Project, which will pay students throughout The New School to create large productions of art.

The USS has strongly supported ICAP since it was initially proposed by Sean Elias, Drama senator. Elias hopes that ICAP, which will become an annual production, will bring students from around the university to collaborate on a single piece of art in dance, theater or another artistic medium.

This year’s project is a play, which will open during the Spring 2011 semester. Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock” was written at the end of the 1930’s and denounces the greed and corruption of the corporate world and private education —  a still relevant subject. “‘The Cradle Will Rock’ takes a sharp look at capitalism, democracy, and higher education,” Elias said.

ICAP is distinct from similar projects like this that are common to universities because it will pay students who participate. Every student contributes five dollars of their tuition to the USS budget every semester. Students who participate in ICAP will then each be given a $200 stipend.

“How can anyone devote time to bettering a society, especially through art, without sustaining an income in which to do so?” Elias wrote in an e-mail to the Free Press. “It was imperative that students receive payment for their talents, time and dedication.”

Elias will also direct “The Cradle Will Rock.”

The USS is excited about ICAP’s potential to bring students together. NSSR Senator Chris Crews said that the project is set up to draw on every division’s expertise. By having Drama students act in plays written by Lang or General Studies students, with sets and costumes by Parsons, ICAP will be able to build community while putting on quality productions.

“We really want to see more projects like this,” Crews said. “I haven’t seen any proposals quite like this.”

Additional reporting by Adrien Cothier