Each week, the long, thin pages of The Hoya are dotted with the contemplations of students seeking relief from the hustle and bustle of Georgetown University’s daily life.
Earlier this month, Mansi Peters (CAS ’27) wrote about students overwhelmingly needing a break in a campus culture that discourages rest. Similarly, Dylan Goral (CAS ’28) wrote about how that same culture — which prioritizes academic and professional achievement above all else — contributes to declines in our mental health. More than a year ago, in January 2024, Christina Pan (CAS ’27) lamented how in conversations about academics, students focus more on the workload and difficulty of assignments than on the course content itself, which diminishes our enjoyment of otherwise engaging material.
Indeed, it’s far from absurd to claim that the Georgetown student feels overworked, overstressed and underslept. In our own ways, we each crave a break; we yearn for a bit of distraction from the intensity of our commitments and obligations.
In our experience — and seemingly in the experience of many other Hoyas — the most universal way to encounter this relief is through art.
Think back to your best memories of your time on the Hilltop. Was one of them watching your previously uncoordinated best friend take over Gaston Hall with an Indian dance they learned just three months ago? Was one of them belting out a shrill note at a party-turned-karaoke performance? Was one of them telling jokes or drawing or writing or singing for a club you dreamed of getting into?
We’d offer that the answer is probably yes. And it is for that reason that we, as students leading the 2025 Georgetown University Arts Week, come to these pages of The Hoya to present you a manifesto and humbly ask for your participation in this revival.
A half-decade-long tradition that has not been put on since the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgetown Arts Week was first organized by GUSA in 2014 and last held in 2019. Poignantly, its former lead coordinator and artistic director, Katherine Rosengarten (COL ’17), described it in an interview with The Voice as a “a smorgasbord of events and projects that both represented the existing arts community and invited people who maybe don’t consider themselves ‘artistic’ to take up a paintbrush or a microphone and give it a shot.”
This spring, from April 6 to April 13, GUSA wants to recreate that smorgasbord. Arts Week would not be designed as another commitment to squeeze into packed schedules but rather a respite from them. In partnership with media and performing arts organizations across campus, we hope to transform our familiar spaces into venues for creativity, reviving a program of events that brought art to everyone.
Throughout the week, academic buildings — the very spaces where students feel trapped in the mindset of constant work and no time for themselves — could host art competitions, with winning pieces to be displayed in makeshift galleries. Campus organizations could present lectures and discussions exploring art’s role in politics and society, offering students new ways to engage academically, beyond the mere discussion of rigor that Pan originally critiqued.
Student artists could have opportunities to showcase and sell all kinds of artwork in pop-up Red Square stores, transforming campus into a marketplace of creativity. Also understanding that cost often creates barriers to artistic engagement, Arts Week would provide numerous free opportunities for students to step outside what Goral described as the drive students face to work constantly. A piano in Red Square could invite impromptu performances, while free paint-and-sip sessions and singing workshops would offer structured yet relaxed environments for artistic exploration.
So, during Arts Week, as we aspire to make craftsmanship and talent as accessible, widespread and nonstop as possible, we invite the Georgetown community to buy in — not just to attend events, but to actively participate in creating this refuge. Whether you’re part of a cultural club showing off your traditional art forms, an aspiring painter looking to get your name out there, a political organization exploring art’s role in advocacy or a preprofessional group examining the intersection of art and industry, there’s space for your voice in Arts Week.
Right now, Arts Week is little beyond a vision. But with your presence, participation and support, Georgetown’s whole student body can revive this great tradition and bring the joys of art to all again.
Saahil Rao is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service, and Tina Solki is a junior in the School of Foreign Service and McDonough School of Business.