Beaux Arts Ball

Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts
Resurrects the Beaux Arts Ball, March 4

Costumes encouraged for “Light and Shadow” themed gala; tickets on sale now

After a 10-year hiatus, Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts will revive its legendary Beaux Arts Ball, a multi-disciplinary art party, on Saturday, March 4, to celebrate the college's 100th anniversary.

The Beaux Arts Ball will be held from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the College of Fine Arts building.

Tickets are:
$40 for students ($35 for students if reserved by Jan. 27);
$75 for alumni, faculty and staff; and
$250 for an exclusive Patrons ticket. Tickets can be purchased by check or credit card, by mail or in person at the School of Drama box office in the Purnell Center for the Arts. Credit cards will also be accepted by phone at 412-268-2407. Limit two tickets per person. All tickets must be purchased by Feb. 28. No tickets will be sold at the door.

“The Beaux Arts Ball is a tradition going back to the earliest years of the college: a tradition of provocative costumes, energetic dancing and beautiful decoration,” said Douglas Cooper, architecture professor and co-chair of the Beaux Arts Ball Committee. “I could think of no more fitting way for our faculty, staff, students and alumni to initiate the college's second century.”

The Beaux Arts tradition originated in 1648 at L'Ecole National Superieure Des Beaux Arts in Paris - also known as the National Academy of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture. Students celebrated the end of exams by staging outrageous all-night revels and masked balls that encouraged freedom of expression and offered social equality for the disguised.

Carnegie Mellon began its tradition in 1911 when architect Henry Hornbostel, a member of the first faculty and a dean of the college, introduced the Beaux Arts Ball to campus. The ball became a costume party, usually held every four years in the College of Fine Arts building. The ball was such an important part of the institution that many faculty included aspects of its planning into their curricula.

This year's theme, “Light and Shadow,” was chosen by the faculty, staff, students and alumni who compose the Beaux Arts Ball Committee. The theme celebrates timeless paradoxes: black and white, backward and forward, art and technology, the studio and the lab, while underscoring the educational ideals that distinguish the College of Fine Arts.

Costumes are encouraged, but not mandatory. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes.

The 2005-06 academic year represents the centennial of Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts, which accepted its first class to the School of Fine and Applied Arts in the fall of 1905. A century later, the College of Fine Arts is a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists and professionals organized into schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music, and their associated centers and programs. For more information about events marking the College of Fine Arts Centennial, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa/centennial. For more information about the College of Fine Arts, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.