Students in Service and Leadership at Harvard

Story of Us

The Student Arts Involvement Ecosystem 

Through interviews with the Office of the Arts and various student arts leaders, a picture of student arts involvement at Harvard begins to form. Below, you'll find basic statistics about student arts involvement, as well as recurring comments and critiques from interviews with students currently active in the arts community.

3200+ Students Involved in the Arts
~1000 Students Involved in Music 
~800 Students Involved in Drama
20+ Registered Student-Run Dance Groups
90+ Registered Student Arts Organizations
Most Students Involved in Arts Participate in 2+ Arts Organizations

"I would say there's really no collaboration or communication beyond people applying to use our space or work on a show... we can be really limited by just where residency and open spaces art."
"You get out what you put in... It's very personalized to what you want, and you have to find your own little niche within different communities."
"Most groups have a really strong reputation, and I don't always feel comfortable in them. Some spaces are trying to open up their spaces more... but there's often drama and politics between a small minority of people."

Harvard Undergraduate Art History Society

I co-founded Art History Society with my friend and colleague Tobias Benn three years ago, as we found there was no space outside of the History of Art and Architecture department to engage in conversations about art history and to visit art museums. From the start, we wanted to make accessibility the central value of HUAHS, drawing on Tobias' perspective as a non-HAA concentrator and my background in education equity work. Our mission became to bring as many students as possible, regardless of background and experience, to art museums and art history events, and build a community around a shared interest and love for art. We have partnered with art museums across Cambridge and Boston as well as the HAA and AFVS department to increase resources, but have also put on our own events, tours, and socials. Since inception, we have built a board with two Co-Presidents, Events Chairs, Outreach Chairs, Finance Chairs, and a Freshman Representative program. At the end of this year, Tobias and I will step down after three years of building this organization, and pass on institutional memory to the next generation of HUAHS. 

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