Next fall, the culture of Route 1 could change as we know it today.
Art House, an artistic hub where students can experience self-expression through music, art and dance will earn a spot on Baltimore Avenue. Led by the Clarice Performing Arts Center, Art House will be a bar and restaurant where students and patrons can enjoy a hip and soulful atmosphere and support artists.
The Clarice is partnering with MilkBoy, a Philadelphia restaurant that mirrors the vision for Art House. MilkBoy offers live music, food and drinks, which is similar to the idea behind the art house. The Clarice is also partnering with other entities such as the city of College Park, UMD School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, UMD College of Humanities and students.
Paige Mock, a junior economics major, is a student ambassador for the Clarice and refers to the art house as the “epic scholarship of UMD.”
Throughout the creative process, students will play a role in contributing their ideas and passions for the art house. In order to gain a good sense of students’ interests, The Clarice is conducting student surveys.
The Clarice hosted its annual NextNOW Fest, September 12 through the 14, a festival where the performing arts center provides fun and interactive activities that introduce students to various forms of artistic expression. Imagine Art House had its own display during the event, including visual architectural designs for the art house, surveys, a synopsis on the theme and inspiration behind the project and some chalkboards where students wrote down their suggestions.
The architectural designs that were shown during the NextNOW festival were drawn and crafted by architecture students who helped prompt thought behind the aesthetics of the future building.
With students having a voice in the production of the art house, the project will be a manifestation of communal effort. At the festival, students filled the boards to capacity and wrote down their own personal visions for the project.
“I think they’re excited for the opportunity to have their input,” Mock said.
Alex Hubbard, a senior mechanical engineering major said he admires the students’ participation.
“It’s really encouraging to see the amount of students that are involved in it.”
The art house will add a new type of flair to Route 1. Currently, a place like the art house does not exist on Baltimore Avenue, or anywhere nearby and will change the landscape of the street.
“I feel like what already exists invites certain crowds, but this invites everybody,” Kim Harris, a senior music major said. “I think it opens a space for a different kind of community to also be involved within the college park community.”
Some of the performers who will share their talent at Imagine Art House include people from the School of Music and School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.
Having a performance art venue will encourage students to support each other as a community and listen to each other’s voices.
“I think it’s really good to see what other people their age are creating and how they’re involved in the community,” Hubbard said.