Kerry Kramer COMM231 6/10/13 Assignment #5: Slice of Life

Performing Arts Center Popular Among Public Audiences:

On an early summer afternoon, the University of Maryland seems a sleepy remnant of its usual bustling self, but the scene at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the universitys central performing arts hub, tells a different story.

The Grand Pavilion of the Clarice Smith Center is filled to the brim with those in attendance to this years National Orchestral Institute and Festival. The festival, which runs for the entire month of June, is one of the many performances occurring at CSPAC this summer that demonstrate the centers increasing popularity.

The composition of the crowd may appear perplexing to first-time visitors of the performance art complex. Absent are fresh-faced college students typical to most academic buildings. Instead, the crowd shuffling out of the Dekelboum theatre is filled with members of the post-grad world.

I love the performing arts center, says frequent concertgoer Judith Heller. Heller, a 45-year- old resident of Silver Spring, has been attending events at the Clarice Smith Center for over five years. I try to attend an event once or twice a month, because its important to support the arts, especially when youre an artist yourself, Heller says.

Since opening in 2001, the Clarice Smith Center has emerged as a rising cultural center in the Washington, D.C area. The Clarice Smith Center is home to the School of Music, Dance, Theatre and Performance Art, and offers a diverse array of performances each year.

Like Heller, many area residents regularly flock to the Clarice Smith Center to fulfill their performance art needs, and to find out what the next generation of performance artists is up too. Its fascinating to see what young artists are doing today, says Richard Glasgow, a 69-year-old Annapolis native, especially at a place as all encompassing as the Clarice Smith Center where there is something for everyone.

Glasgow, a former concert violinist, is particularly fond of the performance Clarice Smith Centers performance venues, which he says are excellent at capturing and creating the appropriate environment for the variety of performances held at the center.

The Clarice Smith Center is composed of six different performance venues that according to the centers official website, aim to encapsulate the characteristics and qualities of an array of different performance arts mediums. Notable venues include, The Elise & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall, a large ensemble hall that seats up to 970 people, and the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall, a jewelry box theatre that is often cited as a favorite place to perform among solo and acoustic artists.

The performing arts center is also home to the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, a 23,000 square foot research library that contains one of the worlds largest International Piano Archives. The Prince Georges Room, which provides Prince Georges County residents access to the centers resources is favorite among locals.

You wouldnt want to watch an intimate theatre production in a huge auditorium, but at most universities this is the reality because of a lack of resources, but thats not the case at the University of Maryland, says Glasgow. What makes the experience at the Clarice Smith Center so enjoyable is the environment that enables each artistic production to thrive, and its what keeps me coming back.

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This story is about the popularity of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center with non-student audience members.

The story uses a prominence news angle, as it addresses the ever-increasing popularity of the Clarice Smith Center with members of the public

The story encompasses the following news qualities: proximity, human interest, trends and entertainment.

This story would be most appropriately featured in the style and entertainment section of a newspaper, as it focuses on aspects generally featured in these sections.

Readers should care because the story demonstrates that performance art is still a popular form of entertainment todays society.

The article includes a photograph of the performing arts center. If the story was to be featured online then it would benefit from multimedia.

Word count = 547 Grade Level = 12th WPS = 25.8 SPNGRAF= 2

Contact Info: Judith Heller- (443)-336-4125 Richard Glasgow- (240)-205-6289