EPCC’s
30th annual Arts Festival, running from February through May, has
something for everyone to enjoy!
The festival is an annual collaboration between faculty, staff, and
students. Events vary from art exhibitions to plays, student films,
a poetry slam and discussion panels, just to name a few.
“It is really a way to showcase all of our students and their
talents, whether they are dancers, or they are involved in the community,”
said Caroline Woolf-Gurley, English instructor and Arts Festival coordinator.
Below are listed some of the events that are scheduled. (See also
separate stories on events not listed here.)
“Not One More!” a Juarez Murders Awareness Discussion
Panel, will be take place on March 8, at the ASC Boardroom. Diana
Washington-Valdez, author of the book Harvest for Women and representatives
from “Amigos de Las Mujeres de Juarez,” will be a guest
speaker.
“We hope to raise more awareness about this very important issue,
as well as help people become empowered enough to want to get involved
beyond the festival and learn how activists are changing the world
we live in,” said Richard Yañez, EPCC English Instructor.
Señorita Extraviada, a documentary on the murders, will also
be shown. (See separate story.)
On March 23, a movie entitled Everyone Their Grain of Sand will be
shown about a land feud along the Mexican border. The film will be
shown at 1:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the ASC boardroom.
There will also be a Lecture Discussion Panel given by author Todd
McKinney, who is a published poet and a creative writing instructor.
McKinney will visit literature classes to get acquainted with students
and share some insights into the publishing world.
Meet the Author will take place on April 5 at VV in room B240.
PapaGaYo will host a Student Literacy Contest featuring student works,
including fiction writing, short stories, creative non-fiction and
poetry. This is an effort to collaborate with the ESL department.
The contest is open to any student who submits work during March through
the first week of April. Winners will be awarded at the Spring Arts
Festival Gala on April 26 at the ASC.
As April is Poetry month, EPCC has scheduled its annual Poetry Slam.
In the slam, 15 students perform original poetry before an audience
and receive Olympic-style ratings by a panel of judges. This event
is planned for April 20, starting at 9 a.m. at the VV amphitheater.
Poetry Pachanga will also be celebrated on April 27 at RG’s
Little Temple, starting at 7 p.m. Also during April, local radio poets
(the Hip-Hop Poets) will perform and offer various writing workshops.
“Howls in the Desert: A Literary Celebration of Mujeres Escritoras”
is set for March 28 at RG’s Little Temple from 6:30 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. (See separate story.)
Students from the painting and music departments will also have a
stream of events to showcase their talents. An Extended Family Painting
and Music Exposition that encourages audience participation will be
on April 12, at VV from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Musicians will play as
people paint. Students from any campus are invited to bring their
families.
The Children’s College Student Art Recital is a piano performance
in which 50 children demonstrate what they have learned.
“It is a wonderful event and I’m glad that the college
offers it,” said Melissa Sanchez, manager of EPCC’s Children’s
College. “This way, not only the adults get to celebrate the
art, but the children that are involved in it,” Sanchez said.
The recital will be on April 2 at the Transmountain Forum at 5 p.m.
and on April 7 at 1 p.m.
Women writers celebrate their
craft
Sehba
Sarwar, an activist-writer, born in Pakistan and currently living
in Houston, will be the featured artist at this year’s “Howls
in the Desert.”
The annual event is set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on March 28, at
the Rio Grande’s Little Temple. It is sponsored by the Women
Writers’ Collective, an organization of writers from the El
Paso, Juárez and Las Cruces area.
“Howls in the Desert: A Reading by Mujeres Escritoras”
is intended to showcase women literary artists and share their original
work to celebrate their distinct voice and vision.
Sarwar is a poet, a novelist, and a producer. Her first novel, Black
Wings, was published in 2004. The novel explores the situation of
a woman and her divorced daughter living on the edge, between Pakistani
and American cultures, according to a review on her website.
Local writers will read during the evening. The Women Writers’
Collective will also sponsor events that feature writers, who will
perform readings on behalf of survivors of domestic violence and sexual
abuse.
The reading of poetry and fiction is intended to reflect on the cultural
and political spirit of literature. “Their voices are a testament
to the informative nature of art,” said Richard Yañez,
English instructor.
“Howls of the Desert,” is free of admission. Guests “will
experience a celebration of voices that inspire and heal,” said
Yañez.
Drummers
revisit the NW campus
Karuna
Warren and the New World Drummers will take the stage at the Northwest
campus library on March 22, as part of the Spring Arts Festival.
The group has performed several times at the fsestival before. Anna
Hernandez, the coordinator of the event for the NW library, said that
it has always been fun when they come. “Karuna Warren and the
New World Drummers provide youth, of all ages, with education in music.
They stress the importance of self-confidence, self-acceptance, and
a healthy self-image,” Hernandez said.
The drummers are musicians from Las Cruces, NM.
During performances they interact with their audience. They teach
the audience different rhythms and allow them to play along.
The group plays a combination of African-American and Native American
Music.
Warren and his wife Marie have created hundreds of drums which they
play their music with. Hernandez said the band members are very positive
people and they like to have fun with the audience. The group provides
workshops open to the community. They have worked at youth centers,
detention centers, runaway centers, and at schools stressing the importance
of a healthy self-image.
The group will perform at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
Documentary
looks at Juárez murders
A documentary
about the murdered women in Juárez will be shown at the Rio
Grande campus during the Spring Arts Festival, on March 7. The film
Señorita Extrtaviada, which translates into English as The
Missing Young Woman, is a documentary by Lourdes Portillo. It explores
the story of the women who were kidnapped and slain over the last
several years across the border.
“The Literary Ripples Project has joined with the Arts Festival
to coordinate the event in order to promote awareness, get people
involved, and support our community,” said Caroline Woolf-Gurley,
coordinator of the Literary Ripples Project.
“It’s the appropriate time to do this, since March is
Women’s [History] Month,” said Woolf-Gurley. The documentary
shows the various theories on the murders in Juárez and it
relates the lives of victims’ families. The 74-minute film was
first shown on PBS in 2001. It will be shown in Spanish with English
subtitles.
The showing of Señorita Extraviada is one of the three events
related to the Juárez murders to be presented at the Arts Festival
this year. The film will be shown at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at RG’s
Little Temple. A workshop presented by Ysella Fulton-Slavin and Richard
Yañez, both English instructors, is tentatively scheduled to
begin after the conclusion of the 6 p.m. screening.
Music
majors show off their stuff
EPCC’s music majors are set
to entertain and gain valuable performing experience in this year’s
Spring Arts Festival.
These performances consist of singing, different styles of instrument
playing, and even Broadway musicals. Only students who are music majors
are allowed to perform, but the recitals are open for everyone to
come and enjoy.
Armin Harrison is one of the music instructors and a coordinator of
this event.
“It’s amazing to see the outstanding talent that these
students have,” Harrison said. “Many of them don’t
have performing experience and this is a wonderful way for them to
obtain it.”
There are three separate Student Music Recitals scheduled at the Valle
Verde Campus. The first one is set for March 7 at 11 a.m.; the second,
on April 4 at noon; and the last one, on April 18 at noon. All recitals
will be held in Room A1201.
Harrison said that Room 1201 might not hold everyone who wants to
attend.
“We need a better facility to enhance sound quality and of course
for an audience to fit comfortably,” Harrison said.
In addition, a Faculty Music Recital is scheduled for April 28 at
3 p.m. in the Transmountain Forum. Harrison will perform in his own
recital on April 27 at 7:30 p.m., also in the Transmountain Forum.
All the concerts are free and will last from about one hour to an
hour and a half. Although the performers will be dressed in semi-formal
attire, the audience is allowed to dress casually.
