Jennifer Jackson
Staff Writer
Students and faculty gathered Wednesday afternoon in Johnson Family Plaza to listen to vocal performances and poetry readings as well as admire fine art and photography as part of the Student Artistic Festival Day.
“The most important part of this event was the opportunity for students to share with us their inspiration and aspiration,” Ruby Montaño-Cordova, associate dean of student affairs, said. “It emphasizes how uniquely talented our students are and encourages the creativity to grow.”
The Student Artistic Festival Day is the first inaugural event of its kind as part of the Scholarly and Artistic Works Week, and is sponsored through the Office of the Provost.
The Scholarly and Artistic Works week ran Monday to today. Monday held the Mini Makers’ Fair and Student Shark Tank, Tuesday was Research Day, Wednesday held the Student Artistic Festival Day, Thursday was Book Day and Friday held Show Me the Money: Funding Your Scholarly and Artistic Works.
Students were invited by the Scholarly and Artistic Works Week Committee to submit their creative works to have them showcased at one of two sessions throughout the day.
Montaño-Cordova said the goal of this event was to reach as many students as possible and some shared their art for their first time.
Sophomore photography major Ashlyn Hulin shared a photograph printed on metal accompanied with a poem telling the story of a young girl coming of age and submerging into a new culture different from her adolescence.
“Photographic art has helped me have a voice,” Hulin said. “This is my way of speaking my mind and showing the way I view the world.”
Not all artists who participated are studying in the art department. Junior Ashley Nunez is studying to become a biologist, but creates art in her spare time as a means of relieving stress, however her passion for art has motivated her to add an art minor.
“I love being able to express myself in a form other than verbal words,” Nunez said. “I also write poetry, so with each piece I create I write a poem to go along with it.”
“Art is a way for me to get out of my comfort zone,” April Matamoros, freshman psychology major, said. “When I am working on a project I am able to get lost and lose track of time.”
For this event, Matamoros shared a project from her Foundations of Art and Design class.
She plans to create more art in the future and wants to participate in this event again.
“It’s been a great day,” Montaño-Cordova said. “As a committee we are going to build on this first inaugural event and see how we can grow it for next time.”
Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jennifer.jackson2@laverne.edu.
