All Center for the Arts spaces will adhere to all University, state, and federal COVID-19 rules and regulations. Due to the unique nature of art making, any activity requiring CFA staff support or interfacing with the general public may require additional precautions in the interest of safe learning/working conditions. This policy may be revised throughout the semester depending on current university guidance and public health conditions in the Middletown area.

The following spaces are managed by individual departments. Any questions about safety guidelines or scheduling should be directed to department administrative assistants or department chairs.

Art and Art History
Art Studios North and South
Art Workshops

Dance
Cross Street Dance Studio
Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio

Music
Adzenyah Rehearsal Hall
Music Studios

Theater
East and Jones Rooms
CFA Theater Studio

The following spaces are managed by the CFA staff and shared between arts departments, the university, and the CFA presenting series and exhibitions.

CFA Courtyard
CFA Theater
Crowell Concert Hall
Ring Family Performing Arts Hall
World Music Hall
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery (North and South Galleries)
’92 Theater (although not a CFA space, CFA support of events will follow rules below)

The following policies were developed to guide event support for public facing events in these spaces.

For Spring 2022, for the following venues, CFA staff support will only be available for Curricular Events of the Art Departments: CFA Theater, Crowell Concert Hall, World Music Hall, Zilkha Gallery, and the ’92 theater (for applicable events). Curricular events are defined as events that are the culmination of classwork for the arts department (Art & Art History, Dance, Music, Theater) classes, thesis work and capstone work.

The CFA staff will be able to support some limited requests to support Non-Curricular, Non-Arts Department, and Student Group Events in Zilkha South Gallery.

The CFA takes a holistic approach to event scheduling, accommodating as many event requests as possible, while carefully considering available staff support inclusive of Production, Marketing, Patron Services (Box Office and Front of House) and Administrative (contracts and resources). At least six weeks notice of event requests and needs are required to ensure support is available and to minimize overlapping events that can cause compounding staff, space and audience challenges. All requests will be subject to approval by the CFA, and the CFA may decline support requests if staffing is already committed to other projects.

Modality

Due to current staffing and CFA equipment/infrastructure, arts departments may choose either an in-person event with in-person audiences OR a virtual event without in-person audiences. Currently, the CFA does not have the ability to live stream events from our venues with in-person audiences nor does it have the ability to livestream outdoor events.

The CFA can provide limited technical support to live stream from our venues; however, it does not have the capability to provide extensive video capture and editing of events. If departments wish to have footage captured and/or edited from events, it must be done with their own resources and personnel.

The CFA staff requires at least six weeks’ notice to support all modalities of events described below including in-person, outdoor, or virtual events. Any requests submitted with less than six-weeks notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and may be denied depending on event needs including available space, technology, resources and staff capacity.

All safety guidelines (social distancing, mask wearing, occupancy, etc.) must be followed and only Wesleyan students, faculty and staff will be allowed as audience members. If departments need a limited number of non-Wesleyan guests to attend specific performances, please reach out to Drew Gray (dgray01@wesleyan.edu).

For Spring of 2022, all events, including free and outdoor events, must use the Box Office for ticketing/registration, so contact information can be retained if needed for contact tracing.

Outdoor In-Person Events

All safety guidelines (social distancing, mask wearing, occupancy, etc.) must be followed. General public may attend outdoor performances. Audiences will have signs outlining current safety protocols at outdoor events and in the case of ticketed events, at the time of ticket purchase.

Departments should factor additional expenses including chair, lighting, and sound rentals into their budgeting as outdoor events can be more technically complicated. Potential locations will be limited to where electricity is available if it is needed.

The CFA does not have the capacity to livestream or video capture any outdoor events.

For Spring of 2022, all events, including free and outdoor events, must use the Box Office for ticketing/registration, so contact information can be retained if needed for contact tracing.

Virtual Event Options

Streamyard
Streamyard is a live streaming service that the CFA uses to broadcast events to YouTube. Streamyard allows for a more “produced” feeling live stream, including camera switch, graphics and video. Producing an event on streamyard can take 3+ hours of pre-production with participating parties and requires technical rehearsals.

Zoom
Zoom allows for a user to produce their own events with minimal support and ITS may be contacted for Zoom training. For those events that need to be recorded for future use (archival/virtual presentation at a later date), the CFA encourages departments to host these events on the CFA Zoom account.

YouTube Premiere
Departmentally produced videos can premiere on the CFA Youtube channel as long as the following protocols are met:
The video file must be received by CFA at least three days prior to the premiere.
Web videos must be captioned as required by the University policy.
Web captioning and editing must be provided by the departments.

Contacts

For more information or questions on this policy: please contact CFA General Manager Drew Gray (dgray01@wesleyan.edu).