Philip Raisor -- Prologue, 1st Annual Arts Reunion (Literary Festival) -- Old Dominion University -- Sept.24-29, 1978

The recent explosion of community interest in the literary, visual, and performing arts in Tidewater has awakened in area artists a new interest in the community. Writers, musicians, painters, dancers, actors, singers, wood carvers and others have tunneled from their dark hovels (or sidled from their plush offices) into bright receptions at summer festivals, boardwalk shows, theater openings, poetry jams, ballets, operas, symphonies, craft exhibits and a host of other cultural events. Perhaps creativity - the essence of a healthy society - is in Tidewater for a long engagement.

Let us hope so. The First Annual Old Dominion University Arts Reunion is an outgrowth of this enthusiasm and a celebration of it.

No one has planned it, but possibly Tidewater is becoming a true regional center for the arts - a port in a different mold which encourages the development of theaters, concert halls, studios, fine arts centers, exhibition galleries and workshops. Perhaps, as in the Middle Ages and in the Free Republics of the Renaissance -- the community, both residents and artists, is accepting a very simple and universal idea: that every person is potentially an artist, subject to the inspiration of another artist at work, and, therefore, subject to the birth of creative effort.

This event is not a circus of the arts, but a full week of performances, dialogue, and experiment designed to approach the problem of restoring literature, art, music, drama and dance to their proper and historic integration as related arts. The problem is only one of many that should be considered in a regional center. The central focus this year is on the literary arts, and to preserve the integrity of these arts no attempt is made to force artistic connections which seem unnatural. No canned music will accompany a workshop on the marketing of manuscripts. The basic assumption is that when writers pursue problems and forms central to themselves and society, they will discover points at which the arts can come together in harmony and grace.

For further information, contact Philip Raisor, Director Graduate Studies in English Phone: 489-6502