performance with a purpose

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performance with a purpose ⋆

Our key product is our “American Idol”/”The Voice” formula that we’re calling “Campus Star” which draws students from all corners of a college’s campus to engage in a friendly, inclusive, high-energy singing competition. Selected from student body auditions, a group of semi-finalists compete in a karaoke-style show, from which six to eight contestants progress to the Finals. Our Campus Star is our minimum viable product (MVP) and is the cornerstone of all our operations.

What You’ll Get

  • ✺ allure

    artivism emphasizes appeal to maximize interest and value. While recognizing it cannot be everything to everyone, it does its best to attract those it can and maintain their attraction by crossing, mixing, and combining genres, spanning the decades of available music, implementing theater, dance, design, and visual arts to engage the other senses, and tapping into recent artists, trends, and developments to cater to the primary audience — students.

  • ✺ accessibility

    artivism creates custom arrangements, scores, & learning aids along with shorter, targeted rehearsals utilizing rote teaching methods to maximize participation regardless of musical experience and ability. We leverage oral traditions and experiential learning to lower the barrier to entry. This means socioeconomically -challenged students lacking access to music teachers and tutors or those who have been told or told themselves they cannot sing are still able to participate via choral applications.

  • ✺ innovation

    artivism disrupts conventional approaches to fostering youth and the young at heart to change the world on their own turf and terms. Our emphasis on audio & visual production, recording & mastering, digital distribution, and integrated software solutions leverages our approach to technology to better engage and excite our clientele and audiences in addition to maximizing the quality of our products. Likewise, through expanded social media emphasis and intercollegiate networking, our reach can be broadened to youth of varying demographics and geographical bases via strategic partnerships with aligned organizations, from schools, to nonprofits and for-profit businesses.

  • ✺ sustainability

    Our primary aim is to cultivate cultured citizenship through music, media, and movement. While we are committed to activating an entire generation, building a movement takes time, resources, and the right strategic partners to broaden participation without losing impact. As they say, “a practical process is a sustainable one” — hence, finding synergies, efficiencies, and aiming for economies of scale are of practicable importance.

  • ✺ virtual production

    As a consequence of the pandemic, our team developed a replicable virtual format to the live competition. The show’s pre-recorded performances are executed with a balanced approach to ensure quality while simultaneously providing the raw effect of live performances. This format allows for asynchronous participation anywhere in the world both from the audience and the student performers, enabling the showcasing of abilities in conjunction with watching, voting, and judging from wherever and (to a certain extent) whenever.

  • ✺ unity

    In a world where many feel disconnected and where efforts are often siloed in application, artivism seeks to unite and connect talents and passions allowing a consolidation of resources for maximum results. Additionally, different stakeholders and interest groups can find one another and consolidate their missions and visions in a way that allows for synergies to be realized and achieved.

  • ✺ employment

    artivism bridges the critical gap between raw talent and tangible opportunity. We recognize that artistic passion is only the beginning; true success requires professional deployment and developmental structure. Our programs are designed not just to showcase talent, but to build a comprehensive, real-world career pipeline.

  • ✺ impact

    artivism’s work and programming has had a significant impact on youth in the following ways:

    • Opportunities to develop both behaviorally and professionally with the charge to create cultured citizens capable of enhancing the world around them; akin to a modern-day “finishing school”

    • Intentional representation aligned with the greater community, while fostering an inclusive yet fair environment so all perspectives are seen, heard, and celebrated

    • Systematic approaches to development in students from underserved populations

    • Coaching & counseling for individual students to enhance their ability to articulate how they are feeling in relation to what is happening in the world of art

    • Artistic development for student artists and music performers to use their voice, redefine their identity as singers, musicians, and dancers by molding raw talent and developing untapped potential

    • Intra-institutional interaction between various communities within the university

What It Does

Performance Highlights

Get a feel for how our shows feel from a few performers from “Dartmouth Idol”/”Campus Star” featuring highlights of their amazing individual journeys and growth.

Testimonials

See what our students had to say about our key product and what it did for them.

Background Info

Interested in knowing more? Take a look at how “Dartmouth Idol” became “Campus Star”.

Competitions

  • “Campus Star” on Your Campus

    Multimedia vocal competition incorporating multi-genre music, dance, live orchestral instrumentation, film, and theatrical elements to a broader audience capturing interest from both schools, at minimum, in an engaging and enticing production.

    Originally started in 2008, the “Idol” formula draws students from all corners of campus to engage in a friendly, inclusive, high-energy singing competition. Chosen from dozens of entrants, a group of semi-finalists compete in a karaoke-style Semi-Finals show, from which six to eight contestants progress to the Finals.

  • Colleges Compete for Glory

    Multiple productions with a broader audience capturing interest from all participating schools, at minimum.

    A natural, broadening outgrowth from the Local Institutional Program, it evolves the original concept into an intercollegiate competition, intended to spark the same passion and vigor sports leagues did at the turn of the 20th century.

  • Large-scale intercollegiate competition, hosted by artivism, involving schools in multiple conferences based on region (e.g., Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, Ivy League).

    Individual schools take turns hosting regional competitions year after year.

    Upper limit of scaling comparable to NCAA’s March Madness.

    Potential for different competition formats and future categories depending on collegiate, participant, and consumer interest.

Memorable Celebrations

  • You should expect engaging, Hollywood-level entertainment and excellent educational development that engages and inspires communities.

  • Colleges, students, and audiences will watch, laugh, cry and utilize the content to encourage their friends, students, colleagues, family, etc. to perform, succeed, and grow. The soft skills students learn will benefit them regardless of what paths they choose in life. The audiences will engage with colleges in a positive, uplifting manner. The institutions will reap the benefits of engaged, more developed students and a connected, intrigued audience & community interested in college happenings more so than they would be otherwise.

  • One could argue that if they could do this, they would have. The issue is generally that colleges and universities don’t typically attract this level of entertainment value primarily because it isn’t deemed profitable for the high-profile artist or, conversely, considered core to the institution’s educational mission. Alternatively, some institutions do manage to attract high-profile talent, but their skill set does not include talent development or allow for a lower barrier for entry. In many ways, one could compare the reasons why a university or college doesn’t have a perennially successful athletics program to why they may not have a lauded arts development program, let alone participating in an intercollegiate competition. There are many more points and reasons to discuss, but these are some of the primary factors.

✺ Frequently Asked Questions ✺

  • Our initial product expanded in ways and to a level that exceeded even our vision. Correspondingly, we grew this to the capacity that the originating institution was capable of supporting. It was time to scale up and expand its reach and impact, ultimately allowing for what would be long term sustainability on both sides.

  • Campus Star is not just a “show” but a formula that has been tried and tested in academia and yielded productive crops of thousands of students. As a result, our products are more than entertainment. Believing art should be more than just art, we infuse developmental training and philosophies into our performers such that the process is more important than the show results for each individual. Unlike network competition shows, the goal is for every student to walk away pleased with their experience, regardless of their outcome. Starting with this focus and carrying this philosophy through to the audience sets us apart from the competition.

  • Send an email to your dean, music dept., and or Provost/Academic Affairs Officer and CC us at us@artivism.me!

Interested?

Join our waitlist to be the first to know when Campus Star launches.