At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there are over a thousand organizations for students to pursue their passions. However, for performing arts lovers, the university falls short.
Intermission Theatre (IMT) is a student performing arts organization that provides one of the only opportunities for students to perform musical theatre on campus with a Musical Theatre Cabaret every year.
Due to high rental costs, IMT applied for an event grant through the Associated Students of Madison’s Grant Allocation Committee, which was later denied. To be eligible for a grant, the event must be educational based — not a social event. The committee rejected IMT’s proposal because they believed the event was not educational enough for its audience members.
Director of IMT, Allie Frank, disagreed with this outcome. She said the group would have met the committee’s requirements, but the grant process didn’t give them a chance to modify their proposal.
“We heard their feedback but didn’t get a chance to actually implement it,” Frank said. “I think it’s a little stifling.”
IMT isn’t the only group that has had issues with the ASM grant process this year. According to historical data provided by the Grant Allocation Committee, 36 event grants were denied this year, which is more than the last two years combined. Additionally, 19 event grants were retracted this year, compared to just four retractions last year.
Optima Dance, a student dance troupe on campus, was recently denied an ASM grant for similar reasons to IMT.
The Communications Coordinator for Optima Dance, Sam Robers, said, “Unfortunately, it seems a little bit like a game they’re playing here, and unless you happen to fall into their predetermined criteria, you don’t have any chance of winning.”
Assistant Director of Organization Advising and Technology, TJ Sargent, said various groups have expressed concern regarding difficulty receiving funding this year compared to previous years.
“There was a bit of a concern with consistency,” Sargent said. “Different people make different decisions, and that’s going to change from year to year.”
Wisconsin Singers, a registered student organization on campus, is sponsored by the Division of Student Life and members take it as a class in the School of Music. The Wisconsin Singers instructional staff position was subsidized by the School of Music but lost funding 20 years ago as a result of state funding cuts and for not having a classical-focused repertoire. The department has continued to provide office, rehearsal and storage space for the Singers course in the school, as well as academic credit for its participants, according to the former director and producer of the Wisconsin Singers, Robin Whitty-
The Singers RSO, conversely, does not meet ASM grant requirements since members receive class credit for participating in the group.
"Due to lack of funding by the UW, in my opinion, Wisconsin Singers/RSO should indeed be eligible to receive ASM grants based on the service Singers provides for the campus and statewide community," Whitty-
The School of Music recently banned registered student organizations from renting rehearsal space in the Humanities building. According to Joey Ferrito, a current Under A-Rest a cappella member, a cappella groups traditionally used to rehearse in School-of-Music-controlled facilities. About one year ago, they were told that they no longer fit into the mission of the School of Music.
“It certainly doesn’t seem like all the rooms upstairs are being used all the time in Humanities, but in general we felt like this was just an excuse being given to us,” Ferrito said.“When we pressed for what we could do to participate in the mission statement, we basically never got anything back. We felt that was kind of an unfair university policy for small student organizations.”
Music Board of Advisors director of the School of Music, Susan Cook, stated the School of Music’s mission is focused on providing curricular offerings — and there needs to be a larger conversation with the university about space for both curricular and co-curricular programs.
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This introduces the larger university issue of a lack of resources for the performing arts at UW-Madison. According to Cook, even students within the School of Music frequently don’t have enough rehearsal space.
Another issue is the deficiency in performing arts exposure for incoming freshmen when they arrive on campus. Frank said that besides the student organization fair every semester, there isn’t a lot of opportunities for students to explore their interests. Many students don’t realize that student organizations are housed online on the Wisconsin Involvement Network (WIN).
“I was very unaware of the arts here on campus,” freshman and IMT Trustee Bryanna Plaisir said. “As a freshman during orientation, we were constantly pushed to join intramural sports and join academic clubs, but I was unaware of the arts that were available to me on campus.”
Plaisir stated that once she became a theater major, opportunities finally opened up to her. For non-theater and non-music majors, however, it’s very difficult to discover performing arts opportunities.
Non-arts majors also don’t want to interfere with the curriculum set out for those who are actually majoring in the arts. Frank said that the arts departments should definitely be prioritizing their students since they’re dedicating their lives to that subject. Nonetheless, departments could create more opportunities for non-arts majors.
Moving forward, the university is slowly implementing changes that could improve this problem. The new School of Music space being built on University Avenue will house two new performance spaces, Cook said
In terms of funding these performing arts organizations, groups are calling for more clarity in the requirements listed on the grant website.
“The requirements as listed on their webpage could use some updating in terms of what they’re deeming educational,” Frank said. “They’re pretty vague about their definition — it’s a broad term and it’s open to interpretation.”
Students are excited about the potential for performing arts programs at UW-Madison. There has already been collaboration and cross-over among student organizations, garnering a larger, supportive performing arts community. IMT members sing in a cappella groups, some Wisconsin Singers alumni have performed in IMT productions and several IMT members are involved in other groups, like Optima Dance and the Mad-Tappers. Students are trying to take advantage of opportunities on campus, even if they’re limited.
“Intermission Theatre was founded in the first place because there was no outlet to put on a show, so students created one,” Frank stated. “Dedicated students are making these student groups so that they can do what they love, and I feel like the university hasn’t caught up with them. The students are way ahead of the university, they’re getting on top of things, they’re putting on shows and the university is still trying to catch up.”
Correction: April 30, 2018
The Wisconsin Singers is both an RSO and a course offered in the School of Music and receive funding from separate entities. It was previously written that the two acquired revenue through the same stream.
