Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the arts at Agnes Irwin and around the world have struggled to continue. But what about sports? I will be explaining how the arts and sports have differently been affected throughout the pandemic.
When speaking with the Director of the Arts at Agnes Irwin, Murray Savar, it was clear that he had opinions on the issue. He participated in many meetings throughout the pandemic, planning within the arts department. Throughout the interview, Savar explained how he missed the sense of community the school had before the pandemic. He mentioned that all art supplies had to be separated individually, no one could touch each other, and claimed that, “It was a nightmare!” As the interview proceeded, he explained that choirs were unable to sing together “…so all music was learned through videos at your own home, learning your own part, without the interaction…it sounded great, but it was just miracle of engineering.” When answering questions about arts vs. sports, he stated that, “…at times [the choirs] were treated the same, [they] were told not to do so many things, but then it seemed that in sports things lightened up a bit…[and the choirs] weren’t allowed.”
During another interview, the Dean of Upper School, Sarah Leonard, elaborated on the issue. She began by stating, both the arts and sports were initially impacted equally by the COVID-19 pandemic. She then explained that because sports were mostly outdoors and the arts indoors, sports were in a better position to resume sooner. To Mrs. Leonard, “…it is tough because what is so important in the school is younger underclasswomen [seeing] examples of someone on stage, someone singing something, [or] someone playing a sport.” The lack of the arts has created a hole in the usual well-rounded education at Agnes Irwin and “…the type of mentoring that the upperclasswomen could have in the arts for underclasswomen didn’t happen as much…” She believes, “…the momentum really stalled in the arts, more [than]the sports.”
As a singer, actor, artist, and student at Agnes Irwin, Meredith DeCarlo, shared her view on school arts vs. sports during the pandemic. She started by explaining her role as an actor and claiming that the theater program, “ …[had] lost a lot of [their] base that [they] had before.” She believes, “There is less interest and less support from the administration when doing anything [involving music].” The number of students within Bel Cantos has decreased from strictly 20 students in 2018-2019 to 14 singers in 2021-2022. Within the sports program, the amount of students participating in the sports at Agnes Irwin has stayed steady with the Upper School Basketball team at 23 student-athletes in 2018-2019 and 24 student-athletes in 2021-2022. To Meredith, “It feels like, as always, sports were given priority over [the arts],” and, “…there was more of an effort given to putting athletes back on the field as soon as possible than getting [people involved in the arts] back on stage as soon as possible.”
