Published: November 24, 2025
The new Crewe Center for The Arts has been a centerpiece of the USM Portland campus since construction began two years ago. And since the official ribbon-cutting ceremony this October, complete with Tony Shalhoub, it’s been open and operational for all USM students to explore and engage with. And while from an outside perspective the Center is a glittering crowning jewel for the Portland campus, the experiences of students who now call the building home tell a slightly different story. Prior to the Fall 2025 semester, Osher School of Music Students practiced, performed, and effectively lived in the well-worn Corthell Hall on the Gorham campus, a space that truly felt like home to many OSOM students. The Crewe Center is technologically leagues ahead of Corthell, described by Trumpet player Ryder-Rose Haines as “more of a machine than a building with how high-tech it is.” The Center offers recording capabilities in nearly every class and practice room, whiteboard screens, and an overall sense of polish that Corthell Hall lacked
However, that polished new-building-feeling is starting to feel sterile to many, with third spaces feeling like a second thought compared to Corthell. Classical Voice Performance Major Abberdeen Brickett states, “The basement (in Corthell hall) was a way to meet people, in a way that I have yet to experience at Crewe … We would go down into the basement and it kind of felt like home.” In contrast, the closest that the Crewe Center comes to communal spaces like this is the central reception hall and the art gallery. While these spaces are public, they don’t feel welcoming; there’s nowhere to sit unless you’re a big fan of concrete floors, and you’d be better off finding a well-loved sofa on display as art in the gallery than pulled up for students to lounge on. Furthermore, several students mentioned how, despite the Center having set hours for public access, donors and investors regularly enter student spaces unannounced “It feels like everything we do is on display, and we were told they would stop coming in, and they’re still coming in.” states a student who prefers to stay anonymous. There’s an overall feeling that The Crewe Center was built for everyone but the students themselves.
Any new building, especially one that is such a stark departure from its predecessor, is bound to have growing pains. But when students voice their feedback and struggles with the space, some feel they are being told to shut up and be grateful. Director of the Osher School of Music, Dr. Kyle Nielsen, formed a Student Advisory Committee to act as a channel for the student body to convey their experiences to faculty and the University at large. However, about three weeks into the semester, an email was sent to the Committee containing certain feedback that felt unfair to the OSOM student population. Notably, an excerpt from this email read, “How does the OSOM population continue to lack gratitude and consistently voice complaints and grievances?” This is a bold statement to make to a vocal student body who have been transferred into a space that is no longer private nor personal, and for whom Haines says, “Community is more than half of the major.” Furthermore, while many students do have valid issues with the Center’s current priorities, even more feel incredibly grateful that the music school is getting the recognition and funding that has been long overdue. The Crewe Center has allowed USM to hold music festivals such as state and district choral festivals, as well as the Maine NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing), both events that would previously have been held at UMaine Orono or Bates College.
It would be wonderful to see the Crewe Center become a place where students feel they can be their best selves, both academically and socially. But currently, the Crewe Center finds itself in what we might call a situationship with its new students, something many at USM can relate to. Things feel strange at first, perhaps even a little toxic at times, but just like a situationship, there’s the possibility it could be the start of something beautiful for the future.
