By Jonathan Morales

2022年11月8日

萨克拉门托 State’s signature public arts and culture event began as a dream.

不是一个有抱负的比喻。 一个真实的。

“I had a dream about a faculty showcase but staged at the Crocker (Art Museum) and about the bubble of the campus, 囊状态, and the Crocker, and then there was this rainbow going back and forth between them, a bridge between us, like a golden bridge from campus to downtown,” said Elaine Gale, a Communication Studies professor who at the time was working frequently with the museum.

“Afterwards, it was like, how could we create that golden bridge of energy and collaboration between this community institution and this educational institution?”

The golden bridge from Gale’s dream led to a real event called U-Nite, the University’s arts and culture showcase that will celebrate its 10^th anniversary on Nov. 10. The celebration will also mark a return to in-person programming at the 克罗克艺术博物馆, bringing the event back into the heart of 萨克拉门托 for the first time since before the start of the pandemic.

U-Nite is a key part of 囊状态’s “anchor university” initiative, said Sheree Meyer, dean of the College of Arts and Letters.

“The anchor university initiative is about moving ‘beyond J Street’ and engaging our neighboring communities in meaningful experiences,” said Meyer. “U-Nite brings together two of 萨克拉门托’s anchor arts and educational organizations – the 克罗克艺术博物馆 and 萨克拉门托 State’s College of Arts and Letters – to unite, create, educate, and celebrate.”

然而，梅耶总是很快强调，优尼特大学最初是一个草根教师活动。 2011年秋天，盖尔把她的梦想变成了现实，她招募了40多名来自各个学科的艺术和文学教职员工，在第二年春天举办了第一次展览。

The eclectic nature of U-Nite’s lineup is intentionally designed to showcase all areas of the college. That means theater and dance and music performances, but also author talks and poetry readings, presentations on the evolution of baseball stadium design and on the history of Japanese puppetry, the debut of a student-developed audio guide of the Crocker’s permanent collection, and short film screenings.

In addition, this year’s event will include a retrospective panel featuring 10 of the original U-Nite faculty participants talking about how the arts and their own artistic vision and process have changed over the past decade.

For Philip Flickinger, chair of 囊状态’s Theater and Dance department, the 10^th anniversary of U-Nite is an opportunity to revisit and reimagine a dance piece he presented for the event’s second edition. His “Shifting Sands” duet, performed in 2013 by two opposite-sex dancers, will this year add two additional performances, one featuring two male-identifying dancers, and one featuring two female-identifying dancers.

“I'm happy U-Nite is still going strong, and I'm just delighted at all the new connections and the relationships that I've made through the event." -- Elaine Gale, 囊状态 Communication Studies professor, creator of U-Nite

Flickinger said U-Nite “has been an artistic endeavor that allows me to explore more ideas and realize concepts that I otherwise would not have pursued for performance.”

“I truly love the opportunity to experience the creative side of 萨克拉门托 State that allows the artists to speak their own voice,” he said. “At U-Nite, you get to truly see the individual artists introducing themselves again and again with their personal creative research, and it is a fantastic means for the community to see the amazing quality of work that 萨克拉门托 State faculty create.”

Gale is thrilled to see her brainchild reach its 10^th anniversary. 她说，大学校园里的教师有时会不经意地将自己与同事隔离开来。 像U-Nite这样的活动可以打破这些壁垒，让教师体验同龄人的工作，回到校园后更加紧密地联系在一起，并与社区建立新的合作关系。

“I'm happy U-Nite is still going strong, and I'm just delighted at all the new connections and the relationships that I've made through the event,” she said.

“I'm proud of this project and of my peers. 我努力工作，让它运行起来，从我的梦想变成了现实。 这个项目一直是关于爱，关于创造社区，庆祝创造力，以及对艺术的热爱。 我的同事们很喜欢。 社区乐在其中。 It touches my heart.”