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In medias res
MassArt unveils the Pozen Center
BY LIZA WEISSTUCH

As new media emerge from the information age at mach speed, art colleges face the challenge of integrating cutting-edge techniques into their curricula. And that means having the facilities to accommodate innovative advances. Last Saturday, Massachusetts College of Art opened the East Coast’s largest multimedia theater space, the Elizabeth and Robert Pozen Center for Interrelated Media. The Pozen is the new nerve center for the Studio for Interrelated Media, a concentration in MassArt’s media and performing-arts department. And though the room is geared toward students — providing a permanent venue for the weekly production day, when students showcase their work — it might also be a boon to Boston-area artists, since it’s available for outside groups to rent.

"It’s unique in the range of productions it can support and the diversity of communities it will serve," said MassArt president Kay Sloan in her keynote address. Matt Howell, a sound artist in his junior year, said, "This will become a spawning ground for new things. If student groups want to put on some kind of new show, they’ll get to try it out — and with no [financial] risk. A high-quality hall gets people excited to do things."

On Saturday, a crowd of about 220 passed up game one of the World Series to don tuxes and evening gowns for the unveiling and dedication of the Pozen, which is located in North Hall, an almost century-old building that’s been souped up to serve as a lab for digitally and technologically inclined students. Jill Medvedow, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, remarked, "The theater really visibly demonstrates the importance of interrelated media and its increased role in the lives of students and artists. It signals what’s happening in artistic practice — and shows the importance of philanthropic leadership."

About five years ago, Elizabeth Pozen, a psychotherapist who’s on MassArt’s Board of Trustees, and her husband Robert, who’s chairman of Mass Financial Services and a former Secretary of Economic Affairs under Governor Mitt Romney, saw huge potential in what was then a deteriorating Renaissance-style space. (It was formerly the auditorium of Boston Girls’ Latin School.) Thanks to their gift and their subsequent efforts, the plaster casts of classical Greek friezes festooning the walls have been refurbished. The 4000-square-foot room is now outfitted with a complex lighting grid suspended from a high ceiling and electronic blinds to eliminate light pollution; it’s been designed to handle electronic and sound productions, video projections, and row seating as well as seating in-the-round. A proscenium stage caps the far end of the room. To underscore the room’s versatility, the dinner tables at Saturday’s gala were arranged to surround a catwalk jutting out from the stage. It gave guests an up-close view of the evening’s fashion show, which featured a small but powerful sample of the work designed by three MassArt graduates.

And though the Pozen opened just last week, it’s already booked its first non-student performance: a reading this Friday by former poet laureate Robert Pinsky and friends from his translation of Dante’s Inferno. In another demonstration of the room’s capacities, the Michael Mazur illustrations that adorned Pinsky’s translation will be projected during the reading.

Robert Pinsky, Frank Bidart, Gail Mazur, and Lloyd Schwartz will read from Dante’s Inferno this Friday, October 29, at 6 p.m. at the Pozen Center, 621 Huntington Avenue in Boston. Tickets are $15; call (617) 879-7102.


Issue Date: October 29 - November 4, 2004
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