April 29, 2008

Contact:   Bill Giduz

The rescheduled Davidson Creates public arts festival this weekend promises to be even grander than the original.

Davidson senior Darryl Ratcliff, organizer of the event, said, "Overall the festival is definitely bigger than what it was the first go round."

The festival was originally scheduled for late March, but was pre-empted by Davidson's stellar performance in the NCAA basketball tournament. When it became apparent that the arts events directly conflicted with one of Davidson's tournament games, Ratcliff and festival organizers canceled events and rescheduled them for Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.

Ratcliff, a gifted painter who holds Davidson's prestigious Romare H. Bearden Scholarship, envisions the weekend of almost 20 artistic events as his legacy to the college. "I thought it would be great to get Davidson students motivated and excited about showcasing all the arts at once," he said.

He and his committee have organized participation of about 130 Davidson students for a two-day extravaganza that will showcase drama, dance, music, spoken word, photography, visual art, film and fashion. He has also raised thousands of dollars from college constituencies to bring in guest artists, manufacture t-shirts and buy material for the events.

Events include several appearances of the Afro-Cuban Orisha Folklore troupe, who will talk about their art and lead dance workshops. Campus dance ensembles will present a show that moves to different locations. There will be showings of student films, a display of sculpture made from recycled materials, a juried exhibition of student art, a children's play on a mobile hay wagon, a battle of the bands, and a fashion show featuring designs by students and local boutiques. An opening reception will be held Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union, which is the site of most activities. All events except the Orisha troupe workshops are free of charge.

Ratcliff gained experience for the organizational challenge last summer, when he was one of 75 students nationally to win an ExxonMobil Community Internship. Ratcliff served his internship as a grant writer for a children's music group, Choristers Guild, in Dallas. The experience included attendance at a national workshop on the nuts and bolts of grant writing. He organized Davidson Creates volunteers into seven committees, and became officially registered as a student organization to help secure funding.

"I want to help creative people make a living out of being creative," said Ratcliff, an art and political science double major. After he graduates in May, he plans to work in fundraising for a non-profit arts organization for a year or two, then earn an M.B.A. degree in preparation to run a non-profit.

Ratcliff has spent a tremendous amount of time in his final year at Davidson in organizing the arts festival, but is convinced that the rewards will justify the effort. "We have great facilities for art at Davidson, but groups don't interact much," he said. "Art is best when it's shared with other artists and the public. Davidson Creates is just a matter of working with all these groups on what they already do to make a bigger impact."

Others involved in the Davidson Creates steering committee are Cody Elder '08 (vice president), Andrew Waddell '08 (treasurer), Melissa Gilkey '09 (music), Thomas Christy '10 (film), Harper Addison '08 (dance), Martel Esposito '08 (visual arts), David McClay '08 (theatre), and Eric Morel '09 (creative writing).

Sponsoring organizations include Androgyny, Ars Longa, Black Student Coalition, Changing Minds, Davidson Community Players, Dance Ensemble, Davidson International Association, Dean Rusk Program, Dean of Students Office, DPurr, English Department, Environmental Action Coalition, Ethnic Studies, Friends of the Arts, Gamut Dance Company, The Davidson Generals, Just Peace, Lake Norman Jugglers, Music Department, Oops Comedy Troupe, President's Office, Religion Department, Spanish Department, Shades of Brown, Swing and Salsa Dance, Theatre Department, Women's Committee, WALT, Union Board, Art Department, and Vers Libre Poetry Club.

FRIDAY MAY  2, 2008

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.  Belk Visual Arts Center  -- 2008 Student Juried Exhibition

12:30 -1:30 p.m. TylerTallman Hall  --  Musical Interludes

4 - 4:50 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room --  Introduction to Orisha Folklore troupe with alecture focusing on the foundations and roots of Orisha folklore

5 - 6 p.m.  Various Locations    Opening Parade -- All are invited to meet on Chambers lawn at 5 p.m. for a loud, rollicking, fun time. Noisemakers and costumes are encouraged. Parade will stop at all dance performances.

5 - 6 p.m.  Various Locations   -- Traveling Dance Performance in which sSeveral ensembles will perform site-specific pieces, moving from place to place around campus.

5 - 6 p.m.   Baker Dance Studio  --  Orisha Song and Dance Workshop - Beginner's level. Admission is $15.00. Purchase tickets at the Alvarez College Union ticket counter.

6 - 7 p.m.  Alvarez College Union Atrium  -- Juggling lessons with the Lake Norman Jugglers. They'll supply the props.

6 - 8 p.m.   Alvarez College Union Atrium  "Pieces of Peace" art exhibition featuring work by children, students and community members 

6 - 8 p.m.  Alvarez College Union Atrium --  Davidson Creates opening reception with refreshments

7:30 - 9 p.m.  Duke Family Performance Hall -- Davidson College  Symphony Orchestra performance

9 - 11 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room  -- Fashion show with students modeling clothes from Avalily's, Monkees, Goodwill, Student Designs (anything but clothes), Bittersweet Design House (environmentally friendly clothing) and "What Not to Wear."

11- 12 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room  --  Short clips of the full Film Festival on Saturday

SATURDAY MAY  3, 2008

10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Union Amphitheatre  -- The Davidson Community Players and The Connie Company present "The Connie Company On the Fly," perfect for children of all ages.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room  -- A lecture, "Merging Sacred With Secular," focusing on how the sacred is invoked in a profane world and the improvisation of memory from corporal translations of praise song poems, praise rhythms and body gestures.

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Union Amphitheatre  --  Art Therapy Workshop

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Alvarez College Union Atrium -- Music Festival

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Alvarez College Union 302 and 313  -- A half-dozen professional artists will be creating and talking about their work

11 a.m. - 6 p.m.  Union Sprinkle Room  --  Film Festival

11 a.m. - 1 a.m.  Alvarez College Union Atrium -- "Pieces of Peace" Art Exhibition

11 a.m. - 1 a.m.  Alvarez College Union Atrium -- An exhibition of pictures taken by children living on the streets in Buenos Aires during the abroad experiences of Davidson students Ellie Marranzini and David McCavitt

12 - 2 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room  -- Public slam poetry and fiction reading

12 - 4 p.m.  Belks Visual Arts Center --  2008 Student Juried Exhibition

1  - 2 p.m.   Alvarez College Union Amphitheatre -- Performance by the student "Oops" comedy troupe

1 - 2 p.m.  Baker Dance Studio  --  Orisha Song and Dance present an intermediate level workshop. Admission is $15.00. Purchase tickets at the Alvarez College Union ticket counter.

1 - 4 p.m.  Union Amphitheatre  -- Davidson students perform  theatre scenes and monologues

1 - 4 p.m.  Union Amphitheatre  --  Help the Environmental Action Coalition build a recyclable sculpture playhouse for the Ada Jenkins.

1 - 4 p.m.  Union Amphitheatre   -- Davidson students perform theatre scenes and monologues

4- 6 p.m.  Richardson Plaza   --  Draw on paper with charred sticks of wood

6 - 7 p.m.  C. Shaw Smith 900 Room --  Finale performance of Orisha Dance and Rumba

7:30 - 9 p.m.  Tyler -Tallman Hall  -- Davidson senior Liz Grundstein presents a voice recital

9 p.m. - 1 a.m.  Alvarez College Union Atrium --  Fifth annual Battle of the Bands for Davidson student groups.

For more information on any of the events, call 704-609-8689.

Posted By: Bill Giduz