October 11, 2010
Contact:
Ann Claycombe, 404-413-5047
College of Arts & Sciences
Atlanta -- Faculty, staff, and more than a dozen student groups are coming together to celebrate the arts and share their talents with the community at Georgia State University’s annual Arts Fair on Oct. 20.
The fair will take place between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. around the intersection of Poplar and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta. The celebration will include art displays and musical performances, as well as food, fun and games.
"It was like walking through a kaleidoscope," said Rachel Chamberlain, an undergraduate who attended last year’s fair. "Clubs offered demonstrations, sold their artwork, and others gave you all sorts of information about how you, too, could participate in the arts."
The fair will highlight academic opportunities in the arts in a new way this year with two new participants: the Major Matters program of the College of Arts and Sciences; and the Dean of Students Intercultural Affairs Office.
"The fair is a wonderful way to get students excited about a major in the arts," said Rene Presti of the Major Matters program. "Students get to see other students in action and ask questions. Then they come talk to us at our table and we help them see the path to take to turn a dream into a reality."0
Major Matters is a program to help students choose the right major and take full advantage of academic and other opportunities while in college.
Intercultural Affairs is sponsoring a Feed Your Senses event in the lobby of the Rialto Center for the Arts during the fair, which will feature violinist Juan R. Ramirez-Hernandez. Ramirez-Hernandez has played the Boston, Pittsburgh and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras under conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and others. He is the founder of the Atlanta Virtuosi Foundation.
Other participants in the fair include: the School of Music, the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design, the Center for Collaborative and International Arts (CENCIA), and Five Points: A Journal of Literature & Art. The Student Jazz Band will also perform during the event.
"We welcome the entire community of GSU—the students, faculty, staff—as well the people who work and live in and near downtown Atlanta to join us in this celebration of the arts," said Ralph Gilbert, associate dean of fine arts and director of CENCIA. "The arts are a vibrant and critical component to dynamic cities. We are proud of our students and our programs and value the opportunity to share our talents."
For more information, please visit www.arts.gsu.edu.