In partnership with the Office of the President, the Office of Student Affairs and SGA, the Woodruff Arts Center will begin to offer season passes to students at discount prices.
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, SGA passed a bill in support of the initiative. The bill contributes $15,000 to the creation of a newly branded Woodruff season ticket. “The bill [covers] a new collaboration that Georgia Tech has established with the Woodruff Arts Center and what the bill will cover is sort of like a subsidy to…season passes,” said Graduate Student Body President Anthony Baldridge. “The Student Government Association along with the President’s Office as well as the Office of Student Affairs—all three of them are getting together to form this total of a $40,000 subsidy, of which SGA’s bill is $15,000, for these season passes.”
The ticket will provide students with unlimited access to exhibitions at the High Museum as well as performances at the Alliance Theater and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
“It is the first time that the Woodruff Arts Center has done anything like this and it is giving students access to a world renowned art center,” said Undergraduate Student Body President Corey Boone. “There are only a handful of centers like this in the United States… People know of the Woodruff Art around the world so this is a really great and unique opportunity for Georgia Tech Students, and I really hope it will be successful.”
The Woodruff season pass will allow students to purchase a ticket to visit museums or performances by the Alliance Theater or the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Students must reserve tickets 48 hours in advance of a museum visit or performance. Students can show the Woodruff season pass and their student ID in order pick up reserved tickets at the Woodruff Box Office.
“It is a very good opportunity to expand the Georgia Tech experience a little bit — outside of the confines North Ave. and Fifth Street,” Boone said. “It kind of allows students to venture out into Atlanta a little bit and experience a little bit of a different side of Atlanta than what we see day-to-day. It will definitely expose us to more culture and will really make Georgia Tech the perfect place to live, play and learn.”
In addition to the season passes, the Woodruff Arts Center will host three Tech events that will expose students to the different divisions of the Woodruff Arts Center throughout the fall and spring semesters. The first such event is scheduled for Sept. 30, and it will be an open house on the Woodruff campus.
The Woodruff Season Pass will cost undergraduates $20, roughly the cost of student tickets. Starting Sept. 16, Students can pay at the Tech’s Box Office and receive a voucher to be redeemed at the Woodruff Art Center Box Office for the actual pass on their first visit to the Woodruff campus. Each pass will only be able to purchase one ticket per museum visit or performance. However, students may purchase a guest ticket for $12. Spouses with Buzzcards will also be able to purchase a pass. The passes will be valid until May 31, 2011.
Woodruff will also create landing page to their web site in order to highlight events that might interest students and provide students the opportunity to reserve tickets online. Unpurchased tickets to performances at the Alliance Theater or the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will become available to students with a season pass 48 hours before the show. Students will be able to reserve tickets to the High Museum at any time.
“It’s all contented upon whether there is availability and space but typically your activities during the week, which is when most students will use it, at the Woodruff Art Center would provide us with a lot of opportunities to go to their performances,” Boone said.
Tech’s total contribution to this partnership is $40,000. SGA voted to fund $15,000 to the initiative. The remaining $25,000 will be paid for by the Office of the President and the Office of Student Affairs. Tech’s future contribution is expected to decrease as a portion of the funding will be going to the design and creation of the landing page which is a one-time expense.
“SGA actually spends quite a bit of money every year putting on these events for example Georgia Tech Night at the High Museum. So the sum of money that SGA would potentially be investing would get us the cards and the events,” said Kaitlyn Whiteside, Vice President of Campus Affairs.
The Woodruff Season Pass system is renewed on a year-by-year basis. The Woodruff Arts Center and Tech are both keeping statistics both on number of passes purchased and number of tickets purchased using the passes.
“This will be a great opportunity for all students at Tech to experience Atlanta, to experience art and the culture that the Woodruff Art Center provide,” Baldridge said. “I hope that every student will take advantage of this and that we at Tech are lucky to have been given this opportunity, and I think we should take full advantage of it.”