Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts
Resurrects the Beaux Arts Ball, March 4
Costumes encouraged for “Light
and Shadow” themed gala; tickets on sale now
PITTSBURGH, January 18, 2006 —After
a 10-year hiatus, Carnegie Mellon University’s College
of Fine Arts will revive its legendary Beaux Arts Ball, a multi-disciplinary
art party, on Saturday, March 4, to celebrate the college’s
100th anniversary.
“The Beaux Arts Ball is a tradition
going back to the earliest years of the college: a tradition
of provocative costumes, energetic dancing and beautiful decoration,” said
Douglas Cooper, architecture professor and co-chair of the
Beaux Arts Ball Committee. “I could think of no more
fitting way for our faculty, staff, students and alumni to
initiate the college's second century.”
The Beaux Arts
tradition originated in 1648 at L'Ecole National Superieure
Des Beaux Arts in Paris — also known as the National
Academy of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture. Students celebrated
the end of exams by staging outrageous all-night revels and
masked balls that encouraged freedom of expression and offered
social equality for the disguised.
Carnegie Mellon began its
tradition in 1911 when architect Henry Hornbostel, a member
of the first faculty and a dean of the college, introduced
the Beaux Arts Ball to campus. The ball became a costume party,
usually held every four years in the College of Fine Arts building.
The ball was such an important part of the institution that
many faculty included aspects of its planning into their curricula.
This year’s theme, “Light and Shadow,” was
chosen by the faculty, staff, students and alumni who compose
the Beaux Arts Ball Committee. The theme celebrates timeless
paradoxes: black and white, backward and forward, art and technology,
the studio and the lab, while underscoring the educational
ideals that distinguish the College of Fine Arts.
Costumes
are encouraged, but not mandatory. Prizes will be awarded for
best costumes.
The Beaux Arts Ball will be held from 8 p.m.
to 2 a.m. in the College of Fine Arts building. Tickets are
$40 for students ($35 if reserved by Jan. 27); $75 for alumni,
faculty and staff; and $250 for an exclusive Patrons ticket.
Tickets can be purchased by check or credit card, by mail or
in person at the School of Drama box office in the Purnell
Center for the Arts. Credit cards will also be accepted by
phone at 412- 268-2407. Limit two tickets per person. All tickets
must be purchased by Feb. 28. No tickets will be sold at the
door.
The 2005-06 academic year represents the centennial of
Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts, which accepted
its first class to the School of Fine and Applied Arts in the
fall of 1905. A century later, the College of Fine Arts is
a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists
and professionals organized into schools of Architecture, Art,
Design, Drama and Music, and their associated centers and programs.
For more information about events marking the College of Fine Arts Centennial, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa/centennial. For more information about the College of Fine Arts, visit
www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.
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