Winthrop University recently chartered and recognized The Rising Artists of Winthrop – a transformative take on what it means to be an art club.
Within the last 139 years of Winthrop University, the arts have played a significant role in the school’s success. From elaborate theatre productions to stunning orchestra performances, Winthrop has maintained a significant place in the larger Rock Hill community as its beating heart. Since its official conception in 1989, the College of Visual and Performing Arts has always had the goal to uplift art students and give them a place to grow.
The CVPA has played a big part in the development of Winthrop’s community. One of these developments is RAW – organized by Fine Arts and Sculpture professor Shaun Cassidy. The Union of Student Artists, the previous club on campus, died out due to Covid and graduating students. Cassie Bleitz, a fine arts major with a concentration in expanded media, explains “our goals…are to…lower barriers for arts in our community on our campus, especially for students who aren’t art majors.” They continue, stating the club intends to propel “existing artists at our school and [advance] their practice…giving them an opportunity to work outside of an educational space.”
President Zoe Gumangan, an expanded media arts major, expresses a similar sentiment, further stating that with their new events they want to see new faces from the university and the local community. “It just makes me happy to see people who aren’t art majors being creative…being expressive.” This, they have already achieved, especially with one of their recent events held in January. RAW’s open mic night seated a full house of both art and non-art
majors, including supportive staff and faculty members, a few of which also performed. Bleitz discusses this successful night, saying, “I really enjoyed the interdisciplinary aspect…we had musicians show up and we had poets show up, and performance [artists]…it just showed us how much more this club can be beyond our administration’s limited scope of fine arts and how creative people on this campus are and how much energy there is…we really are…giving people a route to express themselves,” Furthermore they stated, “I just want to see people get engaged on campus, I want…people to feel like we are providing…fair opportunity beyond the program they’re paying for.”
The Rising Artists of Winthrop will continue building their organization, as well as fostering engagement and excitement with new events. Through this effort, Winthrop might see a change in their current suitcase campus dilemma, with a new holistic community that continues to form between all types of students.