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Arts and Lecture Series

Top-notch opportunities available on campus

Shoreline has one of the best community college-based artist and lecture (A&L) series, period. Seattle Central Community College (listed in Time Magazine as one of the top schools in America in 2001) spends its entire arts and lecture series budget on buying season passes for Shoreline’s series. Other local community colleges have modeled their A&L series after Shoreline’s. The breadth and scope of the A&L series that SCC holds on its campus is amazing, especially considering the fiscal and spatial confines in which it must be run.

The A&L series has been going on for 27 years and serves several purposes. It entertains and educates with both its lecture guests and performance artists, while allowing SCC to reach out to the community at large and offer something back to it.

A committee that is equally populated by SCC faculty and students chooses the artists and lecturers.

This committee starts with a list of more than 100 prospective artists and speakers and then whittles that list down based on availability and cost.

This year, the list of speakers includes political commentator Ariana Huffington, nationally known cartoon artist Aaron McGruder and political analyst Micheal Parenti. These are three well-known and critically acclaimed lecturers who bring a wealth of knowledge and insight with them.

Over the past few years the A&L board has tried to broaden its musical scope. The musicians brought in are often nationally known. This year’s focus is “roots” music. The Music Series this year includes Grammy winner David Alvin and other nationally acclaimed acts, including Bryan Sutton and Russ Barenburg, Darrell Scott, and Caroline Herring. Alvin is one of the premier bluegrass musicians around. His music spans between blues, bluegrass and traditional folk, bridging gaps in inventive ways. Sutton and Barenburg are both accomplished studio musicians and songwriters, acclaimed for their virtuoso ability to make string instruments do incredible things. This sort of focus on “roots” musicians serves as an educational forum for musical enthusiasts everywhere.

The A&L series offers all sorts of opportunities for the SCC community. Advisor Michael LaRoche encourages faculty to get involved by arranging “Meet and Greets” between the incoming artists and students. The board also offers opportunities to students interested in finding out more about event production and the arts world.

“The arts world is a networking-based profession,” said Laroche.

Matt Sheldon is living proof. Sheldon started doing sound engineering work for the A&L series several years ago and spent this past summer gainfully employed as a sound engineer. He credits his experience at SCC as being the main reason he landed his job.

“You can’t get a job doing sound engineering without experience doing sound engineering,” Sheldon said. “The only way to get experience as a sound engineer is to do engineering work. The only way to do engineering work is to get a sound engineering job. A&L let me get that hands on experience I needed to break that cycle.”

LaRoche also stressed the many chances for students to get involved. The A&L board consists of the advisor, two events coordinators, two graphics designers and two sound engineers. In addition to these stipend positions, there are always ways that students can help. Volunteers are always welcome. Graphic-design students can help create flyers, advertisements and press kits. Music students can learn about sound engineering. Communications students can learn about putting together events. The A&L board is also currently looking for four or five students interested in learning about set construction and event programming. Benefits from these jobs would include free admission to events, opportunities to meet artists and resume-building experience.

Students interested in getting involved in the planning and production process are also welcomed and encouraged. The board meets at 10:30 a.m. every Monday in the small conference room of the 1000 Building. LaRoche can be contacted by e-mail at mlaroche@ctc.edu, or by phone at (206) 546-4590.