Ministry of Experimental Arts

The Ministry of Experimental Arts is an organization of students faculty and staff whose mission is to promote the arts at UMF and provide performance and presentation opportunities for the campus community. Founded in the beginning of 2007, the organization presented the highly successful Michael D. Wilson Arts Night that April which showcased all aspects of the arts for five hours in five different venues including Phil Carlsen's "Car Life, A Symphony for 50 + Automobiles" that received national press coverage. Other presentations at Arts Night included performances of a student rock band, an a cappella ensemble of contemporary music, experimental electro-acoustic music, Radiohead songs on 4 digital pianos, the Bach Goldberg Variations for piano, turntable and improvised dance, an original string quartet written by a composition student, two original plays written, acted and directed by students and numerous art installations.

In the 2007-2008 school year, the Ministry presented a concert of a student rock band that performed the entire Abbey Road album of the Beatles in an authentic recreation of the music (link, Abbey Road) and two Carnivals, arts/social events which combined visual arts  presentations with live student performances of experimental music. The group also sponsored a trip to an open rehearsal of the Portland Symphony. The Ministry is presently in the planning stages for the second Michael D. Wilson Arts Week which has expanded to include six evenings of arts events.