On Sept. 17, the creators of Muses de L’art sat in a circle, computers open wide, awaiting the empty drama building classroom to fill with potential new members at their first meeting of the semester.
The club is fresh to the SDSU theater scene this year, joining the school’s various other performance organizations in crafting spaces for creatives and actors.
Muses de L’art, however, has a unique mission: to help non-male-identifying students feel less alienated in artistic spaces, and to promote female-driven plays and performances.
The executive board described how, if you’re not in one of the other clubs’ plays or musicals, the meetings can make attendees feel isolated. It’s hard for students to integrate themselves into the theater world if they aren’t currently a part of a production on campus.
President Larissa Carcasso explained that she was inspired to create the club because she noticed the lack of opportunity and community on campus. She wanted to design a space where students could feel safe and appreciated when sharing their art.
The fellow board members agreed, all of them highlighting the issue of male-centric plays and projects on campus, and how having such a large community of women at SDSU makes this upsetting.
“And it’s like, yeah, there are some double standards. I feel like because there’s more of us, you have to be competing against more people and you have to be better and kind of at the top of a really huge mountain to climb. So, that makes it harder,” Vice President Kaia Podd said.
Because of this, Muses de L’art is aiming to amplify women’s voices by reading female-written plays at meetings and putting on performances with a largely female cast.
Another goal of theirs is to help connect their members with real-world professionals in the industry.
“We want to bring in women to come and speak to the club and share the successes of some of the professors so people can see themselves represented and be like: I can be there too. Even though I’m a woman, I still have the capacity to be successful, to be at that level,” Co-Creative Director Emily Milligan stated.
Milligan and Podd went on to discuss how it’s often hard to bridge the gap between being a college student and being a real-life performer. Because of this, the club plans to host a series of speakers to give its members advice on entering the adult world as an aspiring actor or creator.
Muses de L’art also intends to have resume workshops, lessons on how to find an agent, tips on auditioning and other helpful sessions during their meetings.
The club’s biggest event, however, is an original works festival that will take place during the first week of December. This will give members the opportunity to share whatever artistic projects they’ve been working on with an active audience. The festival will be an exciting, collective showcase to end the club’s very first semester at SDSU.
If you’re interested in submitting a project for the upcoming original works festival, stay tuned for more information on the club’s Instagram. You can also attend their meetings on Wednesdays from 5-6 p.m.
