By Michela Arlia
There’s a new club on campus, and it’s highlighting some much needed collaboration in the arts departments.
BC Free Association is a club that is open to any and all creatives for improvisation, open mics, scene work, filmmaking opportunities and more. Having first started meetings this semester, the club seeks to bring together all arts majors on campus and even non-arts majors who just enjoy the craft.
“I knew there was a need for this club and someone just had to do some paperwork and make it happen,” said Zara Zeidman, a BFA acting sophomore and the club’s president. “I feel really inspired by the people here and wanted more opportunities to work and connect with them.”
Zeidman says that the inspiration for the club came from an improv class they took within their major requirements that left the class wanting more.
Creating the club was an easy process, as Zeidman received approval for the club after a simple process with easy communication between the Student Center, creating a club constitution, and gathering more than enough signatures of potential club members. BC Free Association was set to go as members worked to bring back a sense of community following the pandemic shutdown.
“Most clubs died out during COVID,” said Frances Porter, a BFA sophomore who serves as the club’s social chair. “A lot of students were and still are looking for community on campus.”
Zeidman expressed that many people across majors were interested in having a space to create together, which led to a branch of the club to focus on film and script writing along with improv.
Samantha Dalton, a music education major and junior, explained how the organization helps bring together students in every arts discipline, something that the college isn’t always successful at doing.
“I firmly believe that there should be more of a solidarity between theater and music majors since our goals center around our shared passion for the arts,” said Dalton. “In only a few weeks, I met some great friends in the theater department through a few friends of mine that radiate with positivity.”
BC Free Association receives high praise by all who attend, the highlight seeming to be the recurring theme of getting to mingle with other arts majors and expanding a collaboration base.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of intermingling between students with different majors here at Brooklyn College,” said BC student Jeremy Palmieri. “Even the different cohorts of the theater department don’t have a lot of opportunities to meet and spend time together outside of the main-stage productions.”
For the club’s president, BC Free Association enables them to interact with those they would’ve probably not have met outside of the classroom.
“My favorite thing about this club is getting to collaborate with such talented and funny people,” said Zeidman. “I have gotten to hang with other actors I don’t normally get to have classes with as well as music and film majors!”
Praise continues as students look ahead to see how bonds created within the club will serve future students.
“It’s an awesome place where all of us can have fun, be creative, and express ourselves,” said Palmieri. “I really think it’s going to do so much good for the students here for years to come.”
The BC Free Association club currently meets on Fridays in the Roosevelt Extension. Zeidman says that as the club continues, the plan is to host more events such as open mic nights, regularly scheduled improv nights, and various showcasing of work. There is also a goal to create short films and sketches with all the fim majors that have recently joined the club.
“We’re all there to have fun,” Porter said, noting that the club is intended for members to just let loose. “No judgment. Be weird, be silly, be crazy, laugh, watch, observe. Just an open environment of creatives.”
The club’s Vice President Sam Rodriguez drives that same message home.
“Even if you’re not an actor and feel you can’t be silly in front of people but you still want to come, we won’t judge,” they said. “Every single person who comes is integral to our community building and we really welcome everyone.”
For more information on how to join, visit @free_associationbc on Instagram.