Impact
NOW. embodies Arts and Activism, embracing the power of the arts as a platform to foster community engagement, actively respect diversity, and work towards equal inclusion for everyone.
Through essential programming, we directly engage challenging issues through collaboration in the creative and performing arts, creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue and exchange between our students and leaders in the arts and activism.
Our ambition is for the potential impact of the arts to be realized, empowering and connecting people to build positive relationships between our campus and our local community to forge change.
Student and Faculty support:
“… most relevant, most empowering, and most socially conscious event yet… This year’s festival was the most impactful few days I have experienced throughout my whole Carnegie Mellon five year career.”
“… importance of efforts toward diversity, inclusion, representation, arts and activism, and community outreach… the cancellation of the [festival] leaves a hole in our student culture.”
“It was a most important evening last night, something so critical in our world, right here, relevant and powerful. Thank you for holding a hand to the flame. The video was a real achievement, it is amazing what was produced in such a short time. Our super privilege in a sequestered realm rarely has such a powerful incursion. It was a really amazing start to a fabulous line up.”
“… 2019 WATS:ON Festival had a profound impact on me… it allowed the CMU community to directly engage with local artists and activists… the relevance to us of the problems their communities face came sharply into focus. No previous talk at our school has had quite so visceral an impact on me… “
“bedazzled by the amount of work you’ve done, as well as the caliber and significance of it all”
“this year’s WATS:ON Festival was what the College of Fine Arts has been missing…”