Since Amherst holds tons of events every week that my friends and I attend, I have had the opportunity to explore tons of event spaces at the college. Each event space offers its unique features, and it’s been a great experience getting to visit all of them. The first event space I had been to at Amherst was the Buckley Recital Hall in Arms Music Center. During orientation, the first years were required to attend a few training events about diversity and inclusion that took place in the Buckley Recital Hall. The Buckley Recital Hall has great ambiance and acoustics because the event space is usually used for orchestra concerts. Jazz concerts usually take place in Arms Music Center as well, though they usually take place in smaller performance rooms.
In the fall semester, a music artist called Sidney Gish came to our college to perform, and her concert took place in the Powerhouse, which is a common place for student organizations to hold events. There was a free used clothing event held in the Powerhouse, organized by students, and ASA held their first meeting in the Powerhouse as well. The Powerhouse has also become a place for dance performances to happen as last semester, the Intersections Dance Company’s fall showcase and DASAC’s fall showcase both took place in the Powerhouse since there’s plenty of room inside the venue to hold a stage and also create a makeshift backstage area. There’s also a small amphitheater outside of the Powerhouse, but usually, events take place inside the Powerhouse itself.
Another common place for performing arts showcases to happen is the O’Connor Commons, which is an event space located in the basement of Charles Pratt Hall. My first introduction to O’Connor Commons was when I had to do the mandatory bystander intervention training during orientation, but I only really got to appreciate the architecture of the venue when I went to a Green Room performance. The Green Room is a student-run theatre group that hosts plays, and during parents’ weekend, one of my friends starred in a Green Room play that my friends and I attended. The theatre group set up the venue so there were places for the stage hand to operate lighting, for the actors to do quick costume changes, and for the audience to get to see a full view of their makeshift stage. O’Connor Commons also has a piano, and during Thanksgiving break, since Arms Music Hall had been locked, my friends and I went to O’Connor to play some piano.
Ford Hall Event Space is another great venue. Located in the Greenways, Ford Hall Event Space has tons of places to set up tables and a projector so student organizations can share information through slideshows. A smaller but cozier event space is the Chi Think Tank, where a lot of writing events are held.
The most well-known indoor event space by far is Johnson Chapel, where important school events, such as Commencement, and guest lectures are held. I even went to an acapella concert in Johnson Chapel once too. Johnson Chapel is a gorgeous event space and the giant windows allow plenty of light to stream in during the daytime. I’m really glad that Amherst has such a wide variety of event spaces so that students can host exciting events weekly.