Since its founding inspiration by Thomas Jefferson, creativity has been at the center of life on Grounds. Today, OpenGrounds is offering students and community members a unique, fun, and encouraging environment to share their creative pursuits with a series of Thursday night Open Mic Nights. Presented in conjunction with the UPC, the twice-per-month OpenGrounds event welcomes musicians, poets, comedians and others a popular and much-appreciated alternative entertainment experience on The Corner. “Open mic nights provide a way for people to meet other people who are involved in creative pursuits and maybe inspire one another in a way that gives them new ideas or directions for their work,” OpenGrounds Program Manager Angela Nemecek said. “And it fits really nicely with the OpenGrounds mission, which is all about creating spontaneous and serendipitous interactions.” 

Spontaneity is the secret to the success of the events, according to Rachel Lee (College ‘18). “One of the great appeals of providing a forum like this and putting a bunch of creative people together in a collaborative and supportive environment is that you never know what is going to happen. That is a lot of the appeal of these evenings.” Another appeal, Nemecek said, is the non-commercial environment. “Ours is not a place where you need to buy drinks or dinner. You can just be here and take part in a great night of entertainment and camaraderie, and I think people really respond to that.”