April Greeting from Associate Vice Chancellor for the Arts and Design Shannon Jackson
April always brings many flowers to Berkeley, and this month is no exception. As our faculty and students head into the last month before commencement, the campus is positively brimming with exhibitions, performances, lectures, workshops, and lab demonstrations. It is bound to be an inspiring ‘capstone’ to a year of creativity. Indeed, during a period when Berkeley announced its enormous financial challenges due to state disinvestment—and when we are coming to terms with the effects of sexual harassment on campus—I find it all the more necessary to focus on the incredible drive of our students, staff, faculty, alumni, and institutional partners.
Their vision keeps me on track. Their energy is infectious. Their commitment reminds me why it is a privilege to serve at Berkeley.
Within the ARC | A+D orbit, we are co-producing a variety of events that exemplify Berkeley’s strengths across all art forms and that foster collaboration with our alumni and Bay Area partners. Join us as we continue to explore the “architecture of life” with scholars and artists in neuroscience, dance, environmental studies and sculpture; learn from faculty colleagues and alumni who innovate with new (and old) technologies to test the parameters of their medium. Help us welcome prospective students and our wider community on Cal Day when we take a campus tour of Berkeley’s many creative spaces. Participate in an exploration of Cross-Sector collaboration in the arts, bringing cultural leaders and artists into dialogue with specialists in urban planning, social entrepreneurship, public policy, and public health. And much more!
April is chock full of flowers at Berkeley. Together, all these opportunities remind us that the public university has many functions—it is a bridge across domains of knowledge, a catalyst for creativity, a vehicle for social mobility, a vital node in a wide regional ecology, and a cross-generational space for life-long learners. Even as public dollars diminish, our public values remain strong.
Thank you for being a member of our public. Thank you for shaping a new kind of 21st century public sphere with us.
Yours in collaboration,
Shannon Jackson
Director, Arts Research Center
Associate Vice Chancellor for the Arts and Design