The 1960s was a transformative period for the School of the Arts. At the beginning of the decade, the school was housed under Richmond Professional Institute—then an affiliate of William & Mary. By 1970, RPI had merged with the Medical College of Virginia to become Virginia Commonwealth University.
In the intervening period, students and faculty members at RPI’s School of Art were buzzing with creativity and eager to engage the national arts community. Though the school was growing year after year, it was far removed from major institutional resources in cities like New York. So, RPI brought New York to Richmond.
“There really was no venue for contemporary film or contemporary music,” said the late Richard Carlyon (MFA ’63), a longtime faculty member. “So, a group of us, across departments, got together and decided to have a spring arts festival.”
In 1964, the BANG Arts Festival was born. Each spring until 1967, RPI faculty invited local and national artists to participate in art exhibitions, dance recitals, film festivals, music concerts and panel discussions open to the public. Carlyon and his colleagues (including Jon Bowie, James Bumgardner (BFA ’58), Bernard Martin (BFA ’59), Willard Pilchard and Bill Livingston) used whatever resources they had available on campus to accommodate their visitors.
1965’s BANG 2 (also known as “BANG BANG”) attracted a veritable who’s who of contemporary arts. In the prime of their careers, choreographer Lucinda Childs, sculptor Robert Morris, dancer Yvonne Rainer, Village Voice critic Jill Johnston, and painter Roy Lichtenstein all visited the RPI campus in the span of a week.
“Yvonne Rainer, with Robert Morris, performed ‘Waterman Switch’,” said Carlyon. “It’s a hallmark of 20th-century dance. It had only been performed one time before it was performed in the RPI gym here, and that was before the court of the King of Sweden. … It’s to music by Vivaldi. They are nude, and their bodies are pressed against each other, and they walk across this track that Robert had built the night before in another performance. It was absolutely gorgeous and was greeted with thunderous applause.”
RPI’s central administration, no stranger to artistic censorship, dogged the School of Art faculty about the nude performance. Theresa Pollak, however, was delighted by ‘Waterman Switch.’ She remarked in 1969, “As I think back on the great beauty of this performance and the lasting effect that it has made on me, I cannot but feel that it was well worth the reprimand which it brought upon us.”
Over the years, BANG was host to a number of avant-garde performances, including Allan Kaprow building a women’s boxing ring and composers John Cage and David Tudor premiering Variations VI at the Scottish Rite Temple. Though the annual festivities ceased as VCU was formed, the school continued to bring renowned contemporary artists to campus when the Anderson Gallery was revived in 1970.
Below, you can browse some of the other promotional materials used to advertise BANG Arts Festival activities in the 1960s. All images are provided by Special Collections & Archives at VCU Libraries.
2018 marks 90 years of creative daring at VCU School of the Arts. To mark this occasion, VCUarts is spending this school year reflecting on our shared history and envisioning how we can continue to pave the way for creative practice in the 21st century and beyond. Visit the VCUarts 90th Anniversary website to learn more about the many stories that have shaped our school, and to share memories of your own.
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