HFA - College of Humanities & Fine Arts

News & Events

Who I am. What I do. Introducing Daniel Callahan.

By Daniel Callahan, Arts Extension Instructor

WHO AM I:

I am ultimately a mystery, living as a human being named “Daniel” socially understood as an African American, cis-gender male, engaged in this collective experience of life.

WHAT DO I DO:

I tell stories. I show stories. I create expressions, designs, and experiences. I play with thoughts and ask questions. I observe and craft meaning from life.

How Can Artists Transform a Town?

By John Delconte, Arts Extension Service Instructor

I recently met with artist/documentary filmmaker Serena Kovalosky over coffee at a warm coffee shop just outside of Saratoga, NY. The shop had a gas fireplace set in the center of a seating area with comfortable chairs that made it all the more inviting for a brainstorming session on a cold day in December.

Venice’s Call for Action, by Dee Boyle-Clapp

I heard the news this November that Venice was underwater a month to the day that we arrived there. At first glance, all the historic places that my spouse and I had just visited for a special anniversary appeared flooded. The squares, the ancient buildings, the citizens, and many tourists were dealing with a crisis that came when water in excess of six feet hit Venice - the result of Acqua Alta (high water) a storm, high winds, and an elevation that is essentially at sea level and sinking.

The True Value of Arts in Communities

An important part of the Arts Extension Service’s work is to provide trainings and workshops for arts managers, artists, and public or private clients across the nation. Arts Extension Service Director, Dee Boyle-Clapp, has been busy this past spring and fall leading workshops for the Connecticut Office of the Arts. These evening or morning-long workshops and full day trainings serve as an introduction to the significant role the arts play in communities.

Online Classes with Real World Examples

In many Arts Extension Service courses, students work with a case study organization to apply their learning in real-time throughout the semester. Currently, our fall online courses in Financial Management in the Arts, Arts Programming, and Cultural Equity in the Arts are interfacing with nonprofit organizations on course projects.

“Very Glad I Attended” the Upping the Ante Workshops

The Arts Extension Service (AES) is passionate about helping artists to fund their creative endeavors. AES developed the free, evening length workshop, Upping the Ante: How to Secure Funding as an Artist, to support artists and creatives who want to make more money from their creative businesses. Dozens of artists attended the workshops facilitated by local artist and arts manager Burns Maxey on September 24th at the Amherst Jones Library and October 2nd at the Holyoke Public Library.

Using Psychology to Grow Your Audience: One “Audience Exchange” at a Time

By Kate Beckley, Arts Extension Service Department Assistant

The audience plays a significant role in the art world. They determine success, in part based on whether they choose to participate in the arts at all. However, the power of audiences extends far beyond the direct interactions with arts events. Thus, studying and researching arts audiences can be as crucial to an arts event as the art itself. By understanding how audiences are impacted by arts events, and how they, in turn, choose to create (or not create) their impact through the arts, this research can be used to create developmental tools to enrich audience experiences at arts events.

Building a Foundation with Arts Management for Nils Neubert

By Kate Beckley, Arts Extension Service Department Assistant

AES student Nils Neubert was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany and moved to the United States at the end of high school. He attended college in New York City and ended up studying voice, music education, and music performance. He has taught in higher education for almost ten years now and has worked with several music festivals. Currently, he teaches at a few New York conservatories, specifically focusing teaching German diction for singers.

Money Matters from AES

The world of arts and arts management is replete with stereotypes about artists and money; the starving artist image seems to imply that artists do not know how to manage money or do not care, because they live in their dreams and not in the ‘real’ world. The truth is that money matters, whether you are an artist solopreneur or the leader of a complex, cultural non-profit overseeing a large scale operational budget and multiple program budgets.

Vicki Meek: 3 Decades of Social Commentary

Vicki Meek, Professor of Cultural Equity in the Arts in the Arts Extension Service's Online program, will open her retrospective exhibition November 16-17, 2019 in Houston, Texas. Vicki Meek: 3 Decades of Social Commentary will feature a variety of mixed media works created by Professor Meek over the last 30+ years, all of which explore her lifelong investigation of social conditions affecting the African American community. Houston Museum of African American Culture

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Upcoming Events

Reclaiming Your Creative Self Workshops
Event Date:
Tue, 02/04/2020 - 6:30pm to Tue, 02/18/2020 - 6:30pm
Reclaiming Your Creative Self
Spring Arts and Humanities Internship Fair
Event Date:
Thu, 02/06/2020 - 11:30am to 2:30pm

Contact

Arts Extension Service
221 Hampshire House
UMass Amherst
131 County Circle
Amherst, MA 01003

413-545-2360 - phone
413-545-2361 - fax
aes@acad.umass.edu

University of Massachusetts Amherst
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