The power of expression

VCU School of the Arts’ activities enhance the area's cultural and artistic atmosphere

Ranked in 2005 as the No. 1 public arts school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts is already known for its standards of excellence. But that doesn’t mean the school is coasting on its stellar rankings.

Generous donations to the Campaign for VCU have helped the school upgrade its facilities while enhancing the region’s cultural and artistic atmosphere by hosting performances and creative collaborations with some of the world’s top acts.

“The School of the Arts is just an incredible force, supporting much of the arts activity that happens in Richmond,” said Dean Richard E. Toscan, Ph.D.

The 2006 residency by the Urban Bush Women, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based dance troupe, is one example of the school’s extensive relationships with world-class performers in the professional arts community, Toscan said. The residency was funded, in part, from a generous grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. From 2001 to 2006, the foundation has donated almost $500,000 to the VCU dance program.

“The significance of this type of grant is that it has created a link between Richmond and New York, so our students have a real path laid out for them when they make the transition into their profession,” Toscan said.

The dance troupe, which aims to illustrate through dance African-American strength and to promote the idea that art is a catalyst for change, came to VCU as part of the Artists-in-Residence program. For seven weeks, the group worked with students, conducted community workshops and performed.

James Frazier, Ed.D., chairman of VCU’s Department of Dance and Choreography, said that while the Urban Bush Women’s stay in Richmond was important to all dance students, it had special meaning for African-American dance majors.

“VCU Dance has a statistically large population of African-American dance majors. At one time, we had surpassed the national average in university dance programs more than twice over, though our own African-American students make up roughly a third of our numbers,” Frazier said. “Bringing in UBW was one of many ways that we attend to the diversity of our student body and the communities in which we reside, while also exposing them to artists of the highest caliber.”

In addition, the Campaign for VCU has helped enhance the cultural and artistic atmosphere for students and the community through the School of the Arts’ music program with an updated VCU Music Center, located at the corner of Harrison Street and Grove Avenue. Upgrades include the addition of an elevator system and improved acoustics. The teaching and rehearsal facility is slated to reopen during the 2007-08 academic year.

The original structure, which housed Grove Avenue Baptist Church until its acquisition by the university in 1977, had been expanded over the years to accommodate an increasing number of music students. In April, three additions were demolished to allow for a complete reconstruction of the building’s rear wing.

A $1 million gift from Richmond philanthropist and jazz enthusiast W.E. “Bill” Singleton and his wife, Dale Harman Singleton, has renamed the VCU Music Center in memory of the couple’s longtime friend, jazz pianist James W. Black. Mr. Singleton previously donated $2 million to benefit the Jazz Studies Program. The Performing Arts Center was renamed in his honor.