Kris Murphy ’26 loves to sing.
And that’s what sparked an idea to work with the Bryant Singers, a campus-based group of vocalists, for a semester-long project out of Bryant’s “Arts and Creative Industries Incubator Seminar.”
“I wanted to give people opportunities to have that space to express themselves,” says Murphy, a Literary and Cultural Studies and Arts and Creative Industries double major.
Connecting with the club’s president, Leo Donnelly ’26, Murphy immersed in research — using past Archway issues, yearbooks, and conversions with alumni to learn about the club’s history while also talking with current members to understand what they enjoyed about Bryant Singers and where improvements could be made. From there, Murphy created an eight-week marketing plan — filled with sample social media posts, event fliers, and digital ads for TV displays around Bryant — that aimed to increase the club’s visibility on campus. Not only did Murphy give the group a foundation to promote their club to other students, but the project helped bridge Bryant Singers’ connections to other campus organizations.
A call for proposals
Launched in the fall of 2023, Bryant’s Arts and Creative Industries major and minor help students gain industry-specific skills across the field of arts and entertainment while also assisting them in developing a portfolio of creative works in their chosen specialty. In the university’s “Arts and Creative Industries Incubator Seminar” taught by History, Literature, and the Arts Lecturer Joan Zaretti, Ph.D., students build their arts network, participate in arts-related workshops, and hear from industry professionals.
“Because it is a small class, they are very open with the guests and each other,” says Zaretti. “We can really get down into the nitty-gritty of their interests and pairing those interests with their projects and different mentors.”
She explains that the course’s main assignment is to work with a campus arts organization and come up with a solution to a specific issue they have or come up with a project that would enhance the club. The course is a stepping stone for the “Arts and Creative Industries Internship” course where students will work with local arts organizations.
Leaning into their interests has been an intriguing component of the class for students. As someone who enjoys writing, Olivia Hillman ’26, helped the Creative Writing Club build its membership and ran a writing workshop to expand people’s view on the various areas of specialized writing that they can engage in. Meanwhile, Selena Negron ’26 used her visual art talents to create signage for the university’s Art Barn, a hub for the cultivation of student expression in the arts.
“The Art Barn is a tucked-away space in the corner of campus. It's a cool space that has so much potential if more people knew about it,” says Negron.
Fostering community, recording history
There’s a larger picture to Zaretti’s project.
“Every community has the arts, so we’re getting them to understand the role of arts in the community, how to build that arts community, and understand that no arts organization works on its own,” Zaretti says.
When visiting or moving to a new place, Zaretti always surveys the arts scene. She examines key players; the smaller organizations that are active in arts for social change or entertainment; and the different ways people are involved in the arts.
She adds that recording an arts organization’s history is important because it helps people understand the past while informing the future.
Through the class project, Zaretti notes, students quickly found that there wasn’t much institutional history on Bryant’s arts scene. By having students record the club’s history, they are safeguarding that information for future generations of students.
“It’s great to see the excitement and energy for the arts that the students have on campus — both in class and the people they are working with. This energy goes a long way to supporting a healthy college culture and has ripple effects that will benefit Bryant's sense of community in the long run,” Zaretti says.
A foundation of creativity
When Rowan McMahon ’27 thought about what her project topic should be, she decided to focus her attention on encouraging students to engage with the Creative Arts Studio in room M36 of the Unistructure.
“Art is a useful coping mechanism for daily stressors or conflicts as well as a form of self-expression that can’t be found outside of its creative process,” says McMahon, an Arts and Creative Industries major.
Her idea was to create a semester-long scavenger hunt that led students to the studio. Once they succeeded in reaching their destination, they could create a small sticky-note-sized piece of artwork by using an assortment of paper, stickers, pictures, and colored pens. They then would leave their artwork in a submission box that Rowan opened at the conclusion of her project.
“I didn't expect to see so many,” says Rowan. “This was extremely gratifying because it meant that students took time out of their busy schedules to create a piece of art that was able to be a part of something larger.”
