2012 ArtsFest begins Sunday, showcasing local, DPU talents

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Putnam County residents are invited to be entertained, enlightened and encouraged to explore as DePauw University presents its 11th annual celebration of the arts.

The 2012 edition of ArtsFest begins Sunday and continues through Saturday, Nov. 3.

With a theme of "Art & the Other," the week-long gathering of writers, artists, thinkers and performers showcases the artistic talents of the DePauw and Greencastle communities in events open to all.

"Art & the Other" offers an open field of possibilities and interpretations of other persons, other ways, other realities. Intersecting with themes that will emerge from performances of "The Crucible," the celebration seeks to explore those scenarios in which otherness is something that is not only imposed by the powerful, but also sometimes embraced by the subaltern or the outsider as a means of empowering expression and raising new critical questions.

Things kick off Sunday with an event that brings together DePauw students, faculty and staff with children and parents from the Putnam County community.

"Art Attack" takes place from 12:30 to 4 p.m. and provides opportunities for local children to explore their artistic abilities and expose themselves to the possibilities of art. The session, which is recommended for children ages 7-12, will include a songwriting workshop for young audiences, presented by Bobbie Lancaster at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Green Center for the Performing Arts.

Down the hall, in Kresge Auditorium, a 3 p.m. Sunday concert by the DePauw University Orchestra presents some family concert favorites, including a Halloween treat or two.

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (from Disney's original Fantasia) is an "Other"-worldly work on the program, with Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" a children's concert favorite.

Also on the program is music from "Spider-Man."

At 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Thompson Recital Hall, voice faculty of the DePauw School of Music present a concert which will include music by Brahms, Liszt, Wolf, Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Also on the program will be two scenes from "The Crucible" by Robert Ward.

The days following will continue to focus on the "Art & the Other" theme, with performances, lectures, panel discussions and an appearance by The Guerilla Girls. The troupe bills itself as "the only touring theater company in the United States that creates performances that take a hilarious look at the current state of women in the arts and beyond."

The theme of the festival will be carried on when Broadway star and 1958 DePauw University graduate David Cryer returns to his alma mater to appear in a production of "The Crucible," which opens Nov. 8.

Tickets are required for some of the performances.

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