The Hopkins Center has established two new membership programs intended to finance student activities and potentially bring more performers to the center. The programs, introduced in July, replace the 40-year-old Friends of the Hopkins Center and Hood Museum program. The split allowed each group's members to focus on the center's mission statement, to "ignite and sustain a passion for the arts in the community," said Lisa Vallejo-Sorensen, the Hop's publicist and media relations coordinator.
So far, 760 people, including many alumni, have signed up to the new membership plans.
New membership is similar for each organization: It is broken into five levels, the simplest of which requires a donation of $50 and subscribes the donor to the Hop's newsletter and gives advanced notice about upcoming performances.
At the $100 level, members are additionally given priority processing for up to two tickets per performance. For giving $500, members are also invited to attend a private event with an artist, and for any donation more than $1,000 these benefits are topped off with the opportunity to have lunch with the director of the Hopkins Center.
The new membership program will not affect the Hop's policy of reserving approximately 30 percent of seats at each performance for students, Vallejo-Sorensen said.
"Students are placed ahead of everyone," Vallejo-Sorensen said. "The reason why the Hopkins Center exists is to serve the students."
Students have no cause for concern over the new membership program, said Vallejo-Sorensen. Money donated by members of the Hop funds student programs such as START, an arts program for youngsters, and HopStop, a hands-on performance series also for children. The donations also support three visiting artists per year.
The percentage of tickets reserved for students is higher than most other colleges' performance centers and has increased the past two years, according to Vallejo-Sorensen.
Tickets are not, in fact, reserved for any other group besides students, she said. The Hop plans to give a survey to all students later this year in order to determine how it might further aid students.
