Bradley University - Anaga Yearbook (Peoria, IL)

Page 26 text:

Rebirth! A New Emphasis 011 The Arts By Kdren BenoiT For yedrs Brodley UniversiTy wds synonymous wiTh one Thing: boskeT- bdll. However, o grddudl shifT in prioriTies hos broughT cibouT on un- precedenTed inTeresT in Brodley's fine drTs. The renovoTion of on old sTrucTure ond The dcquisiTion of d new one reviTolized The Divisions of ThedTre ArTs ond lvlusic, ond The seorch conTinued for d new home for The Division of ArT. HARTMANN SI-IOWCASES THE- ATRE ARTS In 4977, fdcuITy members ond sTu- denTs in The ThedTre DeporTmenT Qnow The Division of ThedTre ArTs5 redlized ThoT The Corousel Ploy- house, d converTed wdrehouse which hdd been The ThedTre group's performdnce dreo for mony yeors, could no longer serve os d ThedTre for Brddley UniversiTy. There were mony problems wiTh The windowless building nedr The corner of UniversiTy ond lvloin, which ldTer wos renovdT- ed To become o Teen discoTheque. According To senior Don ForTier, o ThedTre minor, These problems in- cluded d ledking ceiling, no heoT during winTer, ond no dir condiTion- ing in The summer. Also, becduse of The neighboring resTdurdnT qAvdnTi'sj, dcTors were forced To compeTe wiTh dishwosh- ing mdchines ThroughouT perfor- mdnces. WiTh The ciTizen's bond rd- dio crdze in T977 come new prob- lems for The ThedTre DeporTmenT. As ForTier exploined, l'The Corousel hdd no shielding ogoinsT CB's. One of The mony Things which led up To OPENED IN LATE 1979, The HdrTmonn CenTer is d showploce for ThedTre QT Brodley. 22fNew AVTS Fdcilify

Page 25 text:

Our Own green grasses unbend Their bowed heads and rise Their faces up Towards The warm sun brighT beams floaT down warming The green silk bodies The grasses silenTly sigh filling The breeze wiTh small hushed whispers They sTreTch ouT Their arms and caTch The firsT cool dews of The spring morning slowly Their winTer frozen eyes open and They see The world reborn DemeTrice Worley OUT on The Ccuch Crouched in a vee on The couch And a half-sTep away I can see half your face ln The curve of your arm CaughT in The web of a dream While l look aT my shirT On The back of a chair I will keep you from harm Way down The line where you live Half a mile away You came walking Today To walk back in The dark Jumping pasT windows and cars Your reflecTion I see Flashing in, flashing ouT As you flow down The sTreeT No one buT me sTill awake AT The hour of Three All is sleeping or locked BuT my feeT and The breeze Crouched in a vee on The couch And a lighT year away l can see half your face ln The curve of your arm CaughT in The web of a dream While l look aT The chairs ThaT l wish held a friend I will keep you from harm 'fx Bob Schelley lll PhoTos by Paul Funk Our Ownf24

Page 27 text:

our moving ouT of The Carousel was an incidenT which occured on The opening nighT of Candida by George Bernard Shaw. During one of The mosT Touching scenes in The play, a CB came Through The sound sysTem, and everyone in The audi- ence heard, 'Breaker, one-nine, This is The CaTfish. ' Jim Ludwig, direcTor of The Division of TheaTre ArTs, ciTed oTher prob- lems wiTh The Carousel Playhouse, commenTing ThaT iT uwas The size of The experimenTal lab locaied on The second floor of The presenT The- aTre. According To Ludwig, iT was noT a polished place and did noT aTTracT many local people oPsTu- denTs. WiTh The culmlnaTion of all These problems, The universiTy ad- minisTraTors and The STudenT SenaTe decided There should be a beTTer faciliTy in which The TheaTre poTen- Tial could flourish. The HarTmann CenTer for The Per- forming ArTs resulTed from This deci- sion and basic need. Originally con- sTrucTed as a gymnasium, iT was firsT opened in 4909 and was Then The Third largesT gym in The naTion. IT Deb Schy housed a swimming pool, a men's gym, a running Track, a women's gym, a men's club room, and a so- cial hall on The Third floor, as well as a fireplace and a kiTchen. ln 4950 The sTrucTure was named in honor of Cecil M. HewiTT, an insTrucTor and Track coach. BuT as The number of sTudenTs aTTending The universiTy in- creased, so did The need for more gym space. AfTer Haussler Hall was builT in 4975, HewiTT Hall sTood emp- Ty. Thus The adminisTraTion began To wonder whaT use HewiTT Hall could be puT To. There were needs for a good performing cenTer. a new arTs building, and a new music faciliTy. The adminisTraTion considered Two basic opTions: eiTher all Three de- parTmenTs could be puT inTo This building, or one could be given ma- jor use of iT. Deciding ThaT a TheaTre. was The Top prioriTy, The adminisTra- Tion began The reconsTrucTion of HewiTT Hall in The spring of 4978. The compleTed HarTmann CenTer is comprised of The Meyer Jacobs TheaTre, wiTh sTepped seaTing and an audience capaciTy of 280: The ExperimenTal TheaTre - or experi- menTal lab, as iT came To be called - a classroom as well as a perfor- mance area: an arT gallery for exhi- biTions5 and The Founder's Room, an area for banqueTs and oTher special funcTions. Major funding for The HarTmann CenTer was provided by Jack and Mary HarTmann, afTer whom The building was named. The main The- aTre was named afTer Meyer Ja- cobs, who also helped fund The per- forming arTs cenTer. The Division of Music is permiTTed To use The TheaTre for concerTs, re- ciTals, and special performances. The Division of Ari makes Thorough use of The cenTer's arT gallery. How- ever, since neiTher division is com- pleTely saiisfied, oTher projecTs are in The works. BARKER CHURCH A NOTABLE ACQUISITION LocaTed aT 4447 Barker Avenue is a large Creek Revival sTrucTure cur- renTly leTTered wiTh The words, The Second Church of ChrisTian Sci- ence. The building, following ren- ovaTion, will serve as The much- needed performance area for The Division of Music and as a rehearsal area for Bradley's Symphonic Winds, Jazz Band. and Chorale. The Sym- phonic Winds ensemble is already using The building's basemenT for re- hearsals. According To Melvin PonTious, di- recTor of The band since AugusT 4980, invesTigaTion of This edifice began in The spring of 4980, when iT was puT on The markeT. Mr. Dean Howard, acTing direcTor of The Division of Music, explained ThaT discussion of The idea for a new music building began in June 4979. The primary objecTive was a reciTal hall. OcTober 23, 4984, is The daTe To- ward which archiTecTs will work for compleTion of renovaTion of The Barker Avenue sTrucTure. However, ThaT daTe could be sei back, de- pending on The availabiliTy of maTe- rials. . A BATTERED CHARM disTinguishes sTudios in Duryea Hall. New ArTs Facilliy X 23