This week, justArts spoke to Dean Elaine Wong, senior associate dean of arts and sciences for undergraduate education, about the upcoming BPArt: Pluralism and the Arts ‘Deis Impact Art exhibition.

justArts: One of the goals of the Brandeis Pluralism Alliance is to bring students together to build connections and foster a sense of community. How do you feel the exhibit has interacted with this goal?

Elaine Wong: The exhibit was actually the conception of two student committee [Brandeis Pluralism Alliance] members from last year who graduated—one of them was Adrian Hincapie ’14 who had been very active [with the committee] and in many other activities on campus. He thought that allowing students—actually, just members of the community—to use the arts as a way of expressing their thoughts about pluralism and social justice would be great. ... and so we initiated the first art exhibition. This year it’s called BPArt—it’s supposed to be a cute, clever way of saying both BP and art together; I don’t know if people are getting that. … Last year we had some staff members—this year we have a faculty member who’s written to me and I know he’s going to be exhibiting his work. We have a member of the Women’s Studies Research Center who’s a well-known published poet. We have many students who are participating. … We give everybody on the Brandeis campus an opportunity to participate by voting which of the submissions they feel best conveys the themes of pluralism and social justice. And that way you can participate if you are an artist or if you are simply someone who’s committed to social justice and want to see how the arts interacts with it.

JA: What have the submissions been like so far?

EW: Last year, what happened was most of the submissions came in right at the end. And this year we’ve been getting submissions since even before the break. I don’t know exactly how many we will have in total, but I’m very much encouraged by the ones that I know … We’re hoping that even more people will apply.

JA: Is there something that you feel is particularly important for the students and staff to take away from the exhibit?

EW: Some of the things that I’ve seen are incredibly moving. I don’t want to prejudice the voting—[but] there was one song that has been submitted by somebody who actually won’t be able to perform it because he’s abroad, but it’s called “It Could Have Been Me,” and it was in reaction to what happened with the police violence and lost lives. As I was listening to it, it really brought tears to my eyes. So I think that some of this is just incredibly moving, and I think that one of the great things about the arts is it really helps people understand and connect to issues. That sometimes is more powerful than when you’re reading about it or having discussions about it. … I’m sure that everybody who comes to see the exhibit and/or comes to the reception is going to be moved.

JA: How have the faculty and student steering committees interacted in terms organizing the exhibit?

EW: One of the things we’ve said is that it’s up to members of the steering committee to get the word out. I’ve personally written to people and said, I’ve seen your work, I think its fabulous, and I want you to participate [in the exhibit]. I’m just one of several people who’ve reached out to people. And then we’ve gotten support from others—we sent out the information to [Acting Director of the Office of the Arts] Ingrid Schorr, and she sent that out to people. … Other people are also trying to reach out to get the greatest level of participation.