ARTS FIRST is an annual arts festival held at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

over four days each May. It includes performances or shows involving musical, theatrical, and artistic groups on campus. It was founded by alum

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

in 1994 to honor the artistic community at Harvard, and is run by Harvard's Office for the Arts (OFA). The festival is a public event and many of the events are free.

Participation

All Harvard affiliates (undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae) may apply to perform and exhibit artwork during ARTS FIRST. Performing ensembles may include non-Harvard affiliates, as long as at least one performer is a Harvard affiliate.
The festival involves up to 2,000 artists, giving over 100 performances and exhibitions. Volunteers are recruited to assist in running the festival. They are not required to be Harvard alumni.

Participant funding

Some funding is provided for selected Public Art projects in

Harvard Yard Harvard Yard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. It contains most of the freshman dormitories, Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church, sever ...

. ARTS FIRST Performance Fair performances are directly given a free venue, publicity, and production support, instead of funding.

Performances

The Performance Fair includes opera, dance, music of many genres, stand-up and improv comedy, theater, poetry and experimental performances.

Public art

The festival includes exhibitions of

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

in Harvard Yard and other locations around the campus. Works include

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, installations, or installations with performance/video components and film/video. Student projects that are selected for exhibition in Harvard Yard receive supporting guidance from a professional visual artist.

Harvard Arts Medal

The Harvard Arts Medal is an annual award established in 1995 to recognize: "''excellence and demonstrated achievement in the arts by a Harvard or Radcliffe alumnus/a or faculty member.''" The medal is given to an individual who has achieved distinction in

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

and who has made a special contribution to the good of the arts, to the public good in relation to the arts, or to

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. It is awarded on the recommendation of a committee of (Harvard) faculty, alumni and administrators, by the Office of Governing Boards and the President of Harvard.
During a 2012 interview discussing his part in initiating the Harvard ARTS FIRST annual festival,

said: ''"In 1995, I proposed the Harvard Arts Medal. The idea was to celebrate the fact that, although it’s rare, Harvard men and women do go into the creative arts."''
The recipient of the annual Harvard Arts Medal is announced during the course of the festival.

Recipients

References

{{Reflist

External links

2019 Festival Schedule
Harvard University Music festivals in Massachusetts Film festivals in Massachusetts Theatre festivals in the United States Art festivals in the United States