At the University, there are a wealth of artistic groups in everything from dance to drama. Still, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer number of shows, events and exhibits — particularly when one does not know where to look. Alongside a group of passionate arts students, third-year College student Jack Ireland is currently working to change that with the Great Big Arts Calendar.
The Great Big Arts Calendar is an Instagram account run by University students that works to bring together all University arts opportunities — no matter the art form or type of event — into a weekly post to give students greater awareness of everything going on around Grounds.
The University already keeps a running calendar of arts events on their website, but this calendar is limited to official University department events. It doesn’t include the plethora of arts Contracted Independent Organizations — from the theatre performances of First Year Players to the multitude of acapella concerts and more — that are a central part of the student artistic experience.
Ireland, who is involved in a variety of arts groups, was initially inspired to create the Great Big Arts Calendar after experiencing difficulty keeping up with his friends’ performances.
“I couldn't keep track of when their performances were because I didn’t follow all the groups and sometimes I didn't see all their postering around, and so I missed their events,” Ireland said.
After coming up with the idea last summer, Ireland began to work on potential next steps last fall with other University students involved in Student Council, and together they brought back the Student Council Arts CIO newsletter. However, though the initiative was successful, Ireland saw greater potential for community engagement with the arts.
Ireland then found further inspiration in his involvement with the University’s Miller Arts Scholars — a program that supports undergraduate students across all artistic disciplines through grants, a seminar and a tight-knit community. As a Miller Arts Scholar, Ireland was inspired by how the Scholars often write their upcoming events on a blackboard during the program’s weekly seminar.
“I was like, this is so awesome. I want to bring this to the wider University community,” he said.
Now, each week Ireland contacts a group chat of about fourteen students — who bring a variety of artistic involvements and knowledge to GBAC — asking what events are happening at the University that week and what they should publicize. Then, they compile the events — which include both official University and CIO opportunities — into a slideshow that gets posted to the GBAC account on Wednesday.
The fact that event sourcing is based mainly on student knowledge is not lost on Ireland, who acknowledges that the project is still being figured out.
“It’s still a work in progress, but we try to cover as much as possible… I try to search out every kind of student arts event out there,” he said.
One of the students currently involved with the GBAC, second-year College student Carson Harter, believes that the calendar fills an important gap at the University. He cited his own past experiences as a first-year student interested in the arts, but not fully aware of everything the University has to offer.
“One of the most common kinds of issues I’ve run into in the arts community that I went through kind of myself in [my] first year, and I see it a lot with newer members of the community, is that people just don’t know what options are available. They don’t realize how many different options there are,” Harter said.
While the group is in its early stages, it has already shown the kind of influence it can have. Ireland pointed to a recent comedy show — which brought together three student comedy groups — as evidence of the Great Big Arts Calendar’s usefulness in promoting different performances.
“Every seat was full, people were standing in the back, and this was something that I had promoted on the GBAC and the other comedy groups were promoting, and people were kind of sharing out of the GBAC,” Ireland said.
Members of other arts groups on Grounds have been appreciative of the GBAC’s efforts as well. For second-year College student and Merchandise Chair of the Virginia Women’s Chorus Hannah Bartz, the Great Big Arts Calendar has helped bring more attention to VWC concerts.
“We also recently had a concert called Women Against Violence that the Great Big Arts Calendar posted. This concert specifically was a benefit concert for the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, or SARA, where all proceeds went to them. It was a really cool opportunity to have our message reach even more people, more students, by having it be posted on the GBAC,” she said.
Bartz went on to note that the GBAC’s use of Instagram is both practical and accessible for everyone passionate about the University arts community, whether they are a participant, spectator or both.
“You don't have to search through tons of emails or just hope that you find a flyer in front of Bryan Hall or something to find out what's going on in the art scene on Grounds,” she said.
Involvement with the Great Big Arts Calendar is open to all University students. Those interested in helping out in any capacity can get involved by going to the GBAC Instagram bio, where a form asking for students’ names and contact information can be found. Ireland will add respondents to the group chat of students he contacts about upcoming events and ideas for where to take the GBAC.
With over 200 Instagram followers and a wide range of events covered — from house shows to poetry open mics to hip hop workshops — the Great Big Arts Calendar is steadily gaining traction as a useful resource for arts-interested University students. Looking forward, the students involved in the GBAC hope to create an adjacent website, as well as gain official CIO status.
“I think we all have a friend, we all know somebody who's in a recording group or has a show, and being in a lot of performances myself, I know there's no better feeling than having your friends come and having just packed the house,” Ireland said. “I hope that future artistic groups [at] the University benefit from what the GBAC is trying to accomplish.”
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