The last half of the semester will be focused on a group project that you will choose during Monday, October 21’s class. We will describe the three projects, and you’ll choose your groups based on your preference. You will “carry out” the project over the remaining weeks of the semester, and then present your project and reflections on it in front of SCSU leadership and Arts Administrators from across the city during our last class on Wednesday, December 4.
The presentations should include some type of visuals (powerpoint, google slides, prezi, etc.), and every member of the group must speak during the presentation (however briefly). Each presentation should be about 10 - 15 minutes long.
Option 1:
Work with Kolton Harris from the CT Office of the Arts to create a Customer Feedback Report. You'll look through data collected from feedback gathered from attendees of Creative U, analyze for trends, and make recommendations for future years of Creative U. Create visuals that showcase your findings and present at the final presentation.
It does not matter if you attended Creative U or not - this is a valuable skill that can turn into a career field (analyzing trends for businesses/nonprofits and how to better engage with their brand/future clients)!
Option 2:
Help Lost In New Haven prepare an exhibit for the public eye.
Organization website: https://lostinnewhaven.org
Description: An alternative new museum in town called Lost in New Haven is soon opening its doors to the public. The exhibits are mostly set, but the informational materials have a long way to go. Robert Greenberg, the artist behind the collection—which ranges from parade puppets to business signage to concert posters to industrial artifacts—is the only person who knows what everything is, where it all came from, and what significance each item carries regarding New Haven history. Those who choose this project for their final will visit the museum as a group and select 1 out of 10 possible Lost in New Haven exhibits to focus on. Then, the group will prepare front-facing educational materials about this exhibit that will aid future museum patrons in self-guided tours. These materials might include placards, infographics, historical timelines, photographs, written synopses, recordings of oral histories, or multimodal storytelling. The medium of these deliverables will depend largely on which exhibit the group chooses and how they decide to tell the story. This group will work closely with John, Lost in New Haven’s Museum Services Coordinator, throughout this process.
Option 3:
Work with Katie and Caitlin from the New Haven Symphony Orchestra to embark on the first phase of a multi-year, co-creating storytelling process of the Muse family (see below for info on two Muse sisters that are just the tip of the iceberg!). This group will take at least one trip to Yale's Beinecke Library (Rare Books & Manuscripts) to learn more about the resources they have on the family, as well as talk with their librarians about how to research and ask questions and categorize what we find (and just check out a super cool space! Want to see an original Gutenberg Bible?!!!!). The final product will be a visual summary of what we know of this incredible family in a format that will make it easy for New Haven creatives to learn about them and then to suggest creative ways to tell their story through the arts, which is the next phase of the overall project. As a final part of the project, each group member will get to pitch their own creative idea for how to tell their story!
Victoria Josephine Muse
Attended Yale School of Music 1909-1916 and 1917-1918
Born in 1887 in New York City, Victoria Josephine Muse attended the Yale School of Music from 1909 to 1918. She later graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in 1936 and studied voice in Paris, France. She performed nationally as a lyric soprano into the 1940s.
Her father, Richard H. Muse, was a native of North Carolina; from at least 1890 until his death in 1911, he was employed as a janitor in New Haven. At least part of that time he worked for the Delta Psi Society at Yale. Her mother, Julia Pennington Gibbs, worked as a dressmaker and corsetiere (corset-maker); she was the daughter of Jonathan C. Gibbs, an abolitionist and the secretary of state in Florida during Reconstruction. The family lived at 169 Bassett Street in New Haven.
Josephine Muse gave private lessons in New Haven until 1919, when she relocated to Washington. Her cousin, Harriet Gibbs Marshall, was the founder and director of the Washington Conservatory of Music, an independent Black music institution. Muse took over as director when her cousin died in 1941 and remained dean of the conservatory until her own death in 1960. She was a member of the Treble Clef Club, National Singing Teachers Association, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. The Gibbs-Muse Scholarship Fund at Howard University was named in her honor.
A sister, Jessie Muse, who also attended the Yale School of Music, died in 1918. Another sister, Florence A. Muse Laws, graduated from the New York Barber College. Her brother, Richard I. Muse, a World War I veteran, received the Croix de Guerre for bravery.
Jessie Estell Muse
Attended Yale School of Music circa 1913
Jessie Estell Muse was born in 1886 in New York. Her father, Richard H. Muse, was a native of North Carolina; from at least 1890 until his death 1911, he was employed as a janitor in New Haven. At least part of that time, he worked for the Delta Psi Society at Yale. Her mother, Julia Pennington Gibbs, worked as a dressmaker and corsetiere (corset-maker); she was the daughter of Jonathan C. Gibbs, an abolitionist and the secretary of state in Florida during Reconstruction. The family lived at 169 Bassett Street in New Haven. Jessie Muse attended the Yale School of Music for a time around 1913.
Jessie Muse died in 1918. Her sister, V. Josephine Muse, also attended the Yale School of Music. Another sister, Florence A. Muse Laws, graduated from the New York Barber College. Her brother, Richard I. Muse, a World War I veteran, received the Croix de Guerre for bravery.