News

Students missed at art venue

By Heather Minton
News Reporter

UH offers three nationally recognized venues for students interested in art, music and theater ­ Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre, Moores Opera House and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery.

The music and theater audiences consist mostly of students, but the gallery doesnit attract much student interest.

Nathan Lindstrom/The Daily Cougar

"Our main audience is people from the community, not students," said Alex Irvine, the Blafferis public relations and membership manager. 

The lackluster student attendance at the Blaffer is not mirrored at the theater or the opera house. Despite the fact that this is a mainly commuter campus, those venues attract a number of students.

"We have dedicated patrons who attend events at the School of Music," said Jill Bays-Purtill, director of public relations for the music school. "Our main audience is an equal number of community patrons and UH students."

The school hosts about 3,000 patrons every semester for the opera and symphony, Bays-Purtill said.

The School of Theatre also receives a steady student turnout. The Wortham Theatre, which was built in 1977, sees 300 to 400 patrons per show, box office manager Joyce Murray said. About 60 percent of the Worthamis audience is students, she said.

Cost does not seem to be a factor in the attendance rates. Admittance to the Blaffer Gallery is free throughout the year, but the other two venues charge students to get in.

The Wortham Theatre charges $5 for students, $7 for senior citizens and $11 for everyone else. The School of Music charges students and senior citizens $5 and the general public $10.

Although it does not attract many student visitors, Irvine said, the Blaffer attracts many other patrons.

"We have 30,000 visitors to the gallery each year," she said.

The gallery, founded in 1973, focuses on art of the past 100 years, said Terrie Sultan, director of the gallery. 
 

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