The Hopkins Center for the Arts had a star-studded reopening weekend, with performances from Yo-Yo Ma to Renée Elise Goldsberry. Creative alumni Rachel Dratch ’88, Chris Newell ’96, Alexi Pappas ’12 and Sharon Washington ’81 conversed in a panel led by Hop Howard Gilman ’44 Executive Director Mary Lou Aleskie on Oct. 18. This discussion, named “Arts are Essential” was part of the celebration of bringing the arts into as many students’ lives as possible.
The panelists emphasized that what is specifically ‘essential’ about the arts is its ability to broaden perspectives and foster greater connections between people.
“In the arts, you can quickly change someone’s life,” Passamaquoddy artist and educator Chris Newell said during the panel.
Actress and writer Sharon Washington also emphasized the power of art to provide a “different perspective.”
“All of these stories that get put into a bubble — it is because you have only heard the story from the same point of view,” Washington said. “Perhaps it would be different if you heard that story from a different point of view.”
She expressed this sentiment in an interview with The Dartmouth, underscoring art’s ability to share marginalized perspectives.
“There is like one story people think of [for] first-gen, African-American or immigrant stories and [they] think there is one story that represents everybody, but we know that is not true,” she said. “There are so many different stories, and it takes getting all of those stories out there.”
Washington also reflected on art’s impact on her own life in the interview. She highlighted her formative exposure to books while “growing up in the St. Agnes Branch [of] the New York Public library” where her father was a custodian, which was the subject of her first solo show “Feeding the Dragon.”
Furthermore, writer, director and Olympian Alexi Pappas reflected on her experience of writing her memoir “Bravey” about navigating the simultaneous lives of a writer and Olympian while grieving her mother’s suicide. In this reflection, Pappas emphasized art’s ability to “connect” and foster empathy between people.
“The arts are a way to connect with each other and understand each other’s stories,” Pappas expressed in the interview.
“When you [ask] why art is essential, what [is] most interesting [to me] is when art connects people to people,” Pappas said.
Newell added that understanding can be achieved even across language barriers through a medium like music.
“Even if you cannot understand the words, you can understand the story,” he said.
Walker Rivard ’29, who attended the discussion, said that art not only allows you to share your own story, but also to reflect on your own life.
“I think the arts are our greatest means of reflection because they allow us to reflect on what we have already experienced while also having a [sort] of separation,” Rivard said. “It is that detachment from reality, while also mirroring reality simultaneously. I think that is what is so special about the arts.”
