Building Community Through the Arts

The Arts Working Group strives to foster more inclusive participation in the Arts at Vassar.

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Igniter Project Billboard Gallery

The Billboard Gallery is an alternative exhibition space for Hudson Valley artists, proposed by local artist and educator Abigail Gunnels and supported by Engaged Pluralism.

 
A billboard stands in a wooded, sunlit area. The billboard displays several monochrome abstract images of hands. Below is the text “Artist: Finn Smith”, followed by “billboardgallery.vassarspaces.net”.

“Colleges often have, or are perceived to have, an ‘invisible fence’ surrounding them, creating a separation between the institution and the city/town where they exist...this alternative space [will] engage with Vassar and Poughkeepsie communities.”

—Billboard Gallery mission statement

Between 2021 and 2022, the Building Community Through the Arts Working Group successfully facilitated a public art space located at 357 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603, situated on the far side of the former Mole Mole restaurant parking lot. The art space served as a public forum for the community to express their artistic creativity and showcase their talent. The project was a resounding success, and it helped to foster a sense of community and cultural exchange in the area.

The Billboard Gallery is an alternative exhibition space for artists proposed by Abigail Gunnels and supported by The Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI) at Vassar College. The gallery will focus on Hudson Valley artists. By choosing this location/billboard it will blur that boundary between the Vassar campus and the city of Poughkeepsie. Colleges often have, or are perceived to have, an “invisible fence” surrounding them, creating a separation between the institution and the city/town where they exist. By creating this alternative space to showcase artists, The Billboard Gallery will engage with Vassar and Poughkeepsie communities, and the larger Hudson Valley region by showcasing local artists’ work outside of a traditional gallery setting.

Learn more about the Billboard Gallery

  Wedding Scraps

The Arts Working Group was recently able to fund a preview and production of Vassar senior Arshia Iqbal’s play Wedding Scraps. The production, produced in association with the Muslim Student Association, was presented in late February, 2023.

Comments

“My most fulfilling part of working with Engaged Pluralism was helping to realize Arshia Iqbal’s (’23) production of her play Wedding Scraps at the Aula. Engaged Pluralism provided generous funding for the production of her play which was produced in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association (MSA.) It was deeply moving to see Arshia’s play produced which she worked and re-worked for more than a year through my playwriting classes. But more, it was deeply inspiring to see sold-out houses filled with Muslim and/or Desi students across the campus and from our local community attend a work that was written with their enjoyment in mind. The effort to diversify audiences is buoyed by supporting artists that serve those audiences. Engaged Pluralism helped to make that possible.”

Peter Gil-Sheridan (he/him/his), Assistant Professor of Drama

  Transcend

Engaged Pluralism offered funding to support Matt Andres’s senior project in collaboration with Hype and VC Royalty. Andres designed and presented a drag show on April 4 using found materials on campus.

A poster featuring stylized photos of people wearing makeup and eye shadow. The text reads “Transcend: A Drag Event by Mora Monae and Family. April 8th and 9th, at 8 p.m.; 18+; The Villard Room and The Mug”.

Matt Andres’ thesis show “TRANSCEND” is a drag show that is a celebration of all facets of drag as it has bloomed into the mainstream. It features talents from VC Royalty and the Hudson Valley drag scene.