Hundreds of students, faculty and professionals have piled into arts-related events on campus, including Kinematifest, Webster 48 and Central Region Audio Student Summit (CRASS), all of which are hosted by student clubs.
Senior Esha Vij, who has served as treasurer of the Webster Film Association (WFA) since her freshman year, considers the Senior Showcase one of her favorite events.
“It’s the end of a finish line for our seniors,” Vij said. “The past two years, it’s been our most attended event from the student body. It’s such a privilege for WFA [through the Student Government Association] to be able to fund that for our seniors. Previously, seniors have had to fund it for themselves.”
Outside of its major events, WFA also hosts workshops and networking opportunities, which Vij says is crucial to the purpose of the organization.
“The two big things [about WFA] are networking and community,” Vij said. “Film is something that is so reliant on networks. You can’t make a student film – to the extent that we try to make student films – by yourself. You need a camera, you need audio, you need light. There are so many different roles that need to be filled.”
Another student organization that draws big crowds to its events is the Audio Engineering Society (AES), whose Student Section hosts weekly meetings on Tuesdays with a variety of events, from pizza parties, networking, live recordings in the studio and album reviews.
“We all listen to music, so it’s cool for students to come in who love listening to music, but don’t know what happens behind the scenes,” junior Beth Davis said.
Davis, an audio for media arts major, is on the executive board of the AES Student Section. One of the events that she helps to plan is the CRASS summit.
“CRASS is the biggest thing we do,” Davis said. “Our [AES] section is well known because of CRASS. A lot of professionals admire what we do and are willing to support us, which is amazing. Because of that, we are able to build connections with them. We wouldn’t be able to do that without the student section because we run it.”
CRASS, now in its 19th year, is among the largest student-run summits of its kind in the world, according to AES. From March 28 to 30, students, industry professionals and others interested in audio/sound are invited to attend the event in Sverdrup Hall, with general admission tickets available for $40 on Eventbrite.
One thing that both WFA and AES have the opportunity to do is allow students to share their artwork with others.
“It is one thing showing [a student film] to friends and family, but [another] to get an outside perspective to a more general and broad audience,” Vij said. “Getting the feedback really helps push you to make better art and hone in on your craft. When I say art, that can be journalism, that can be film [or] communication, in general.”
Whether it be the AES, WFA or one of the other student organizations on campus, there are plenty of options for students to express their art. Students can find information on any of the organizations on Involved@Webster.
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