Outlet for student creativity found at the Press

Arts Weekend happens only once a year, so what do all of Boston College's poets, singers, performers, and art enthusiasts do for the other 29 weeks in the year?

There used to be few, if any, outlets for artistic expression for BC students on a weekly, informal basis. But thanks to the artistic endeavors undertaken by the French Press coffee shop, all that seems to have changed.

The French Press coffee shop is mere steps away from BC's campus, and it has recently become the unofficial home of the BC art scene. The French Press hosts Open Mic Night, an evening when students can showcase their poetry, prose, and music.

The French Press is also now home to original photography and paintings from BC's own fine arts majors. The informal setting and close proximity to campus make it a very convenient and comfortable place for students to gather and express their creativity.

The Open Mic Night initiative was coordinated by Daniel Esposito, A&S '10, Jon Barry, BC '07, and James Outhay, the manager of French Press. Open Mic nights are publicized in collaboration with different student clubs and organizations on campus.

So far, groups such as the English Association, the GLBTQ Leadership Council, and the AHANA Leadership Council have offered the use of their listservs to help get the word out. And as a result, every Thursday night at 7 p.m., French Press fills with people looking to get their fix of poetry, prose, and acoustic guitar.

The Open Mic Night was introduced last semester to give students an outlet for their artistic works in a less formal and more community-like atmosphere.

"More than anything, we want to form a community. There are people who will show up who have been here every week and who will hang around and just talk about what they heard or try something out that they wrote while they were here," Esposito said.

And the idea of community that Open Mic Night promotes seems to be taking hold.

"A couple times we've had people just standing in the back because there's nowhere to sit," Esposito said.

The fact that there is no relaxed setting on campus where students can share their work with each other is perhaps why French Press's Open Mic has become so popular.

Reading a poem or playing acoustic guitar in a vast theater like Robsham might feel slightly overwhelming when compared to the single microphone in the comfortable, but still public atmosphere of a small coffee shop.

"The relaxed setting creates such a great dialogue between artists. It makes Open Mic a kind of live performing workshop," said Skye Shirley, a contributor and constant presence at the Open Mic Nights and A&S '10.

Outhay also enjoys the dialogue that Open Mic Night has created between the French Press as a small business and the student body of BC.

"You need small businesses like these to be incorporated into the community, especially with the people who want to be heard," Outhay said. "We don't take stands on anything, we're just giving the people a forum because that's what they are asking for."

Outhay has also provided a forum for fine arts majors, who, this past Saturday, put up some of their original paintings and photos in his coffee shop.

"I've seen so many new faces; new talent has come out of the woodwork," Shirley said.

And thanks to the frequency of Open Mic Night and other art-related events at French Press, painters, poets, and musicians at BC have found a reliable place to build a thriving artistic community.