by Camryn Given | Jun 9, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
To adapt to the pandemic, many industries have had to change their business models in a COVID-friendly manner. For theatres, this included offering home rentals for movies and, for some, hosting drive-ins. Nashville’s own Belcourt movie theatre used these innovative methods to stay afloat when health guidelines prevented movie screenings as usual. Now, as these restrictions are being lifted, the Belcourt has opened their doors to the public once again. Since their reopening, the Belcourt has seen many Nashvillians return to see movies in person. In March, the Belcourt started showing Academy Award recognized films. It didn’t seem to matter if they had already seen the films, people were ready to come back to the movies regardless. Stephanie Silverman, the executive director of the Belcourt, said “We started slow. Both theaters [were] at 20% capacity,” “Once the CDC came out with the new guidance, we now increased our capacity to 50%.” As of now, there is still a mask policy in place, but Silverman said that the staff is monitoring data to find what makes people feel the safest about returning to the theater. “It’s pretty clear that people feel most comfortable with a mask policy in place and some amount of distancing.” However, since some may have gotten used to streaming at home, what is going to bring them back to the actual theater? Silverman says, “The difference between the experience in a theatre and the experience in your house is just fundamentally different, from the sound to the image to the communal piece of it,” She adds while laughing, “Your popcorn is probably not as good as...
by Camryn Given | May 17, 2021 | News, News Slider, Travel
After more than a year and 50 cancelled trips, Lipscomb Missions finally got to announce some good news. The program is set to resume in San Francisco this summer after recieving a green light on domestic travel. This mission trip will take place at the end of July in San Francisco with an organization called City Impact. The group focuses primarily on poverty, hunger and at-risk youth in the community. According to an email sent to students, “[City Impact] has been serving the city of San Francisco since 1984 addressing poverty, hunger, education, community outreach, and homelessness.” Some of their specific projects include a health clinic and academic programs for children. For more information about the work of this organization, their website can be found here. There is also a podcast available from Lipscomb members in conversation with City Impact’s Mission Director. They address the impactful work of the program and the partnership between Lipscomb and City Impact that began in 2013. If you’re interested in joining the team on Lipscomb’s first mission trip post-COVID, the Google Form to express your interest can be accessed on the email sent May 13. Since one mission has now been planned, the question arises if more will continue to be announced soon or if the missions department will take a slower return to their usual packed mission schedule. Lumination will continue to update you with Lipscomb Missions and the resuming of programs post-COVID. Photo via...
by Camryn Given | May 7, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, COVID-19, News Slider
When we look at industries that were hit the hardest in 2020, live music can be found at the top of the list. The music industry, and more specifically the live music industry, was stopped in its tracks last year once COVID revealed itself as a global epidemic. All of a sudden there were no more upcoming concerts, tickets were refunded, and tours were canceled. Now, as roughly ⅓ of Americans are now fully vaccinated, steps are being taken towards normalcy. But what do those steps look like for live music? According to visitmusiccity.com, concerts are back with precautions in place. For example, there are no dance floors open and there can’t be more than 2 performers on stage at a time. This year Nashville is already set to host several big-name artists, from James Taylor to Justin Bieber. There are plenty of upcoming concerts announced in venues like the Ryman and Bridgestone, but what about the small independent concert spaces? The pandemic has put a very large financial strain on many of them. In response to this, several independent venues formed the Music Venue Alliance last fall to support the live music industry and raise awareness of the challenges it faces. The Exit In was almost permanently closed until fans pulled through with donations recently. Now, since restrictions are loosening many are jumping at the chance to hold events. As of now, The Basement East is one of the smaller venues offering full capacity shows. About a week ago Governor Lee announced, “It’s time for celebrations, weddings and conventions and concerts and parades and proms and everything in...
by Camryn Given | Apr 28, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, BREAKING NEWS, News, News Slider
Tonight, during IMAGINE “The Soul of America Today”, President Lowry officially announced a new opportunity for those pursuing a future in the music industry. The lead singer of MercyMe, Bart Millard, has joined forces with Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts. This partnership will create the Imagine House. According to Lipscomb’s press release, “Imagine House is the only initiative of its kind in the country that offers students with varying artistic interests, an innovative education, real market entertainment experiences and a nation wide mentoring network.” Imagine House will serve as a teaching facility and place for students to get hands-on experience in their field. The branches of the program will include an opportunity for online degrees, a production studio with a house band, and ways to create contacts and relationships with experienced musicians. Some of Lipscomb’s own will contribute to the leadership team. Both Brown Bannister, the director of the School of Music, and Steve Taylor, the director of the School of Theatre and Cinematic Arts, will work closely with Imagine House. Millard reached out to Lipscomb with this idea and after much planning and energy, the initiative will launch this fall. Many members of the Lipscomb community are excited about the potential of this new program. “Imagine House is the place where you can dream about your future, ignite the wonder of your faith, apprentice under successful pioneers that have blazed a trail ahead of you and collaborate with other multifaceted artists to create what’s next,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of the College of Entertainment and the Arts. ...
by Camryn Given | Apr 22, 2021 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News, News Slider
Lipscomb students no longer must wear face masks when outside, in public spaces. The university’s new COVID-19 mask policy was announced in an email to students. However, students are encouraged to remain distant from each other and wear masks if they’re interacting with people outside of their household, according to the email. This update came as a response to Metro Public Health Department’s own policy update with the same change. Metro’s full update can be found here. There were other policy changes included in Lipscomb’s announcement, such as that masks can be taken off when indoors and alone or when eating or drinking. To read Lipscomb’s mask policy in full you can access it here. Lumination will continue to update you with any future COVID-19 policy...
