Clark University - Clark News Winter 2003
A new home for the arts
A look inside the new Traina Center for the Arts, which opened this fall with many commemorative events
by Judith Jaeger
Imagine a place dedicated to the creation and study of artistic expression, where students hone their skills in the visual arts, analyze films, study classic paintings and share their talent in music and theater performances. Imagine a state-of-the-art facility that promotes the kind of collaboration that will push the visual and performing arts in new and innovative directions.
For Clark faculty, students and alumni, this kind of place is no longer a figment of the imagination. The opening of the new Traina Center for the Arts marks a new era in teaching, research and creation in the visual and performing arts at Clark.
The Traina Center opened at the start of the fall semester, but the official celebration of the new facility was held in October with five days of special events highlighting Clark’s programs in screen studies, studio art, art history, theater and music. Richard P. Traina, who retired from the University in 2000 after 16 years as Clark’s president, and his wife Polly were honored at special dedication ceremonies on Oct. 24.
In his remarks at the ceremonies, President John Bassett praised the Trainas for their work at the University.
“I’m grateful to Dick for having left the University in such great shape,” Bassett said. “The wonderful reception that Kay and I have received in Worcester is due, perhaps almost entirely, to the work Dick and Polly did in making Clark very much a Worcester institution, as well as a great University.”
The naming of the center recognizes the Trainas’ long-standing support of the arts and their remarkable commitment to the Main South neighborhood. Bassett said the arts center is an especially fitting tribute to the Trainas because arts programs regularly bring community members to campus.
“It gratifies me especially that for generations to come, students will know about all that Dick and Polly have done for Clark because those students will be using the Traina Center for the Arts to study for majors in the arts, to take part in performances in the arts and to be part of audiences in the arts,” Bassett said.
Lois Green M.P.A. ’78, vice chair of Clark’s Board of Trustees, Rhys Townsend, chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, and the Trainas also spoke at the event.
Alumni help celebrate Traina Center
The following alumni participated in the events celebrating the Traina Center for the Arts: Avi Weider ’94, Hilary Neroni ’91, James Castonguay ’90, Andrea Lepage ’98 and Gino DiIorio ’83. These alumni presented their films, plays and lectures during the events.
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| The cover of the Art After Clark exhibit catalogue, designed by Reed Seifer '95 |
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An “Art After Clark” exhibit in the Traina Center’s Schiltkamp Gallery and the University Gallery in the Goddard Library featured work by: Lynne Adams ’87, Kendall Baker ’81, Bryan Davagian ’80, Brian Dittmar ’94, Kezia Hearn ’97, Stuart Jackson ’91, Russell Kaback ’96, Jonathan Lucas ’92, Diane Nerwen ’87, Roberto Noboa ’94, Reed Seifer ’95, Gretchen van der Lyke ’93 and Omar Zafar ’96. Nick Capasso ’81, curator of the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., and Christine Proffitt ’92, Worcester’s cultural development officer, participated in panel discussions with several of the artists.
Other alumni who worked on the Traina Center and the celebration include: Charlotte Wharton ’80, who painted the portraits of the Trainas that hang in the center; Melanie Najarian ’02 and James Fidlon ’93, who were among the musicians performing at the dedication ceremonies; John Winkleman ’77, who created a drawing of the Traina Center for the cover of the program for the dedication ceremonies; Brian Dittmar ’94, who designed the programs and invitations for all of the events celebrating the Traina Center; Douglas Frost ’88, president of Frost Manufacturing, which produced the center’s signs and dedicatory plaques; Scott Newman ’89, president of Brite, Inc., which did the window treatments; and Claudia Russo ’82, whose Worcester-based firm Workplace Resource was hired to supply all of the furniture in the center.
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Clarknews Winter 2003
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| The exterior of the new Traina Center for the Arts showing the original Downing Street School on the right and the newly constructed Razzo Hall addition on the left |
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| Former Clark president Richard P. Traina and his wife Polly with with their daughter Shelley Riecke |
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