Designed for high school students considering a college major in art, art education, graphic communication, music, applied music, church music, music education, theatre or Christian drama, the Fine Arts Showcase exposed participants to the full fine arts experience at Bluefield College through actual class attendance, interaction with current students and faculty, campus tours, masterclasses, and performances by select student ensembles.
“This is just a great opportunity for prospective college students to not only discover the Bluefield College community of actors, artists and musicians, but also gain a better understanding of what it means to pursue a major in the fine arts,” said BC’s Bryant Moxley, head of the Department of Music.
The daylong Fine Arts Showcase schedule featured actual classroom sessions for prospective students, individual appointments with fine arts professors and admissions counselors, campus tours, workshops, scholarship auditions, and masterclasses.
“I just want to look around campus and see what it’s really like here,” said prospective student Jordan Kyle of Ridgeway, Virginia, about her visit to Bluefield College. “I’m looking for a small college with a strong music program. It’s very quaint here, and everyone’s really nice.”
The visiting students and their families also enjoyed performances by BC’s select student voice ensemble, Variations, its Opera Theatre troupe, and select student soloists. The day concluded with a bit of “Java and Jazz,” a coffeehouse performance inside the school’s Quick Shott Café and featuring BC’s Jazz Band.
“I feel like I already know everything there is to know about this school,” said Kiara Hairston, another prospect from Ridgeway, Virginia. “I like the small class sizes and the one-on-one attention with the teachers. Everybody is just a big family here, and I like that.”
The Bluefield College Division of Fine Arts is well known for its quality instruction and performance and its music ministry at home and abroad. Some of the division’s recent growth and distinction include the addition of a graphic arts communication major in 2006 and a Mac lab for graphic design students in 2010, an art study trip to Italy in 2009, musical performances in New York at Carnegie Hall in 2006 and 2008 and the Lincoln Center in 2011, the creation of an instrumental music program in 2008, a music mission trip to Austria in 2010, theatrical mission trips to Poland in 2005, 2006 and 2008, the development of BC Youth Theatre in 2007, a theatrical world premiere performance of “The Torchbearer” in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 2009, and the development of a partnership for international study with the Asian Christian College of Music in India in 2011.
“Our caring faculty and staff make it their mission to help students discover their fullest potential as a student, artist, performer and leader,” said Moxley, “and our hope is that the Fine Arts Showcase helped students discern the path God has for them.”