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The UltraViolet

Marlborough School Student Newspaper
The Student News Site of Marlborough School

The UltraViolet

The Student News Site of Marlborough School

The UltraViolet

Arts Council cancels AMP’d

By Celine ’11 and Cecelia ’13

Due to miscommunication, logistical issues and scheduling conflicts, AMP’d (Arts and Music Production), Marlborough’s third annual celebration of performance and visual arts planned for Jan. 28, was officially called off by the Arts Council at a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

Senior class Fine Arts Representative Lindsey ’11 said that the Council decided they weren’t far enough along with the planning to hold the event in only two weeks.

“Right now we’d have to compromise so much of what the event would be, and Arts Council didn’t want to put on something representing Marlborough arts if it’s not 110% of what we want it to be,” she said.

According to her, the Council didn’t have enough time to publicize the event and weren’t sure what the turnout was going to be. Also, a number of other campus events happening around the same time, such as rehearsals for the Evening of Dance which require a special floor on the stage, complicated the planning.

Performing Arts Department Head Anne Scarbrough said that she was proud of the girls for making what she calls a mature decision.

“One of the things the Marlborough community is promoting right now is more balance, and these girls actually considered that instead of ‘We said we’re going to do it, so now we have to do it no matter what’,” she said.

Scarbrough also noted that the Arts Council has held fewer meetings than in previous years because of scheduling conflicts.

All-School Performing Arts Representative Kyle’11 said the lack of meeting time and the large amount of planning required for AMP’d drew the council’s attention away from their main focus of supporting the arts.

“We kind of became a council that was ‘AMP’d council,’ not Arts Council, and that’s completely drawing away from why we were all elected,” she said.

Kyle also said that while she is disappointed that the event won’t occur, she would rather cancel it than have it be a disaster.

Many students, including Tyler’11, said that they were surprised to hear that AMP’d had been cancelled. Tyler said that she enjoyed the event last year and hopes that there will be another opportunity for artists to showcase their work.

“Yes, we have art shows, but the only people who go down to the gallery are people in art,” she said. “For someone like me who isn’t artsy but still appreciates art, AMP’d was the only time I got to see student artwork and performances.”

All-School Visual Arts Representative Sophia’11 said that the notion that AMP’d is a “tradition” pressured the council into moving forward with the planning when many council members didn’t have the expertise or time to organize such a large event.

“It really only started three years ago because the council at the time felt really passionate about the event and knew exactly what they were going to do and how they were going to do it,” she said. “We are just a very unorganized council.”

Lindsey said that the Council instead hopes to host a smaller, coffeehouse event featuring a number of acoustic acts who were originally going to perform at AMP’d. Additionally, the Marlborough Invitational Art exhibit, in which artwork from students at other schools is displayed in Seaver Gallery, will open as planned on Jan. 28.

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