Looking for a place to showcase your artistic skills? Maybe you’re a dancer, a poet or you’re in a band. Maybe you make some other form of art, be it visual or tangible. Or do you just appreciate all these things and want to see more of them on EMU campus?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then the EMU student organization AMPlifying the Arts, or AMP for short, may be for you.
The group will be holding an event on campus Nov. 18 and 19 of this year to connect artists with their community. Local artists will be found across campus, displaying their artistic abilities of one ilk or another, gaining exposure and confidence in their work. There will be visual art, music, theater performances, poetry readings, art gallery displays and food.
“Food is art as well,” said AMP member Callie McKee, a first year MA candidate in the Arts Administration program. “And not a lot of people on campus get to experience all Ypsi has to offer when it comes to food. Plus, it’s free! Who doesn’t want free food?”
That’s not the only goal for this year’s AMP campus-wide marathon. This year the event is in the middle of Hunger and Homelessness Week and AMP will be having a can art competition to go along with the event.
AMP member Seth Bogner, also a first year MA candidate in the Arts Administration program, said after the competition all the cans used to make art will go to local food gatherers.
Anyone may come to campus and enjoy the event, which will be held in Quirk, Ford, Alexander and the Student Center, but if you are interested in showcasing your artistic abilities or displaying your art, or if you have any questions about the upcoming event and the complimentary can art competition, you can contact AMP member Austin Tracy at devon.tracy@gmail.com.
Tracy, an undergraduate studying theatre and arts management, said he will send registration forms out to interested parties.
When asked about AMP’s roots, treasurer Katie Music, a second year MA candidate in the Arts Administration program responded, “We started this organization out of an Arts Management class. We wanted to find a way to ensure artists had a place for their work on campus every year. And we wanted continuity, so we started a new student org. It gives Arts Management students experience and helps local artists get exposure.”
“AMP is really a three part program,” said Vice President Eric Divinagracia, also a second year MA candidate in the Arts Administration program. “We started as only the academic service, but now we’re also the student org and we have our annual festival.”
Divinagracia said last year’s program was a great success. AMP was able to offer a two-day campus-wide arts marathon, effectively connecting 25 different student organizations and individual local artists with more than 3,000 EMU students and community members. And they hope to do it again this November.
