Page 14 - APAP - Inside Arts - Conference 2020

VO!CE
Mellon grant supports “We Are,” an exploration of arts, identity, and belonging
We Are is popular as a concept – and as a sculpture for students and alums.
ast summer, on a trip to Winthrop, Washington, George Trudeau was walking
along, wearing a Penn State shirt, when a stranger stopped him and said, “We Are.”
“Penn State!” Trudeau responded without missing a beat.
“Though perhaps best known as a chant at athletic events, ‘We Are’ is also well known amongst Penn Staters world-wide as a unifying expression of love and loyalty to Penn State,” says Trudeau, director of Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts.
The center recently received a three-year, $600,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support We Are, a project
that aims to examine the phrase critically, exploring ways to unify students around a common identity
as part of the university through meaningful engagement with the performing arts.
Trudeau and his colleagues worked to develop an initiative that would be unique to Penn State, capitalize on the strengths of the campus, and make a significant contribution nationally to how the arts at major public universities can advance and contribute to academics and student life.
“We believe there is a deeper and more profound meaning
to this phrase and that the arts
are uniquely positioned to drive this examination,” Trudeau says. “Performing artists are uniquely positioned to illuminate issues of community, understanding that all social activity happens in spaces with individuals interacting with each other, much like the work
that happens in a performance space. By framing experiences
that ask participants to examine who they are, both as Penn Staters and as people, we hope to uncover multiple stories, many ways of being and belonging, as part of this distinctive community.”
Artists who are focused on building community will be
invited to campus for extended residencies that include performances and integration with the curriculum. The project also includes the development of four interdisciplinary, team-taught courses. However, it is not confined to the borders of campus. As the driver of the We Are initiative,
the Center for the Performing Arts will ensure that surrounding communities are included in the dialogue.
12 INSIDE ARTS CONFERENCE 2020