Professor of theatre Deanna Brookens is the director of the 17th Annual Kaleidoscope Arts Festival here on Slippery Rock’s campus. Kaleidoscope is a two-week long arts festival that features different events such as musical performances in Swope Music Hall, art displays in Maltby’s Martha Gault Art Gallery, and art-related movies such as “Loving Vincent” in the Smith Student Center theater.
“The festival was designed to offer free or low-cost quality arts programming to an underserved region, and also to provide programming for all ages, and that has a lasting impact on the community,” Deanna said. “When deciding on programming, our committee…are looking for balance and breadth. So, we want some programming that is really going to spark interest in arts and humanities students, as well as one or two community-focused events, and events that we think have really broad appeal.”
Included in this year’s festivals are events such as EarthFest located at the Macoskey Center, taking place on April 24, Kaleidoscope on Main on April 28 and musical performances by SRU’s own music department.
The opening ceremony was hosted in Boozel Dining Hall and consisted of performances from Jamrock and the Musical Theatre Society. Filled with tons of energy and fun, this opening ceremony exposed the festival to many students on campus and got them excited to participate in this incredible festival.
“It’s also a mission of ours to incorporate student arts & cultural groups within the fest,” Deanna said, emphasizing the importance of having many different groups and events to include a large audience, and well as providing exposure and interest of many different kinds of arts.
The festival runs until April 28 all over campus. For more information, visit http://www.sru.edu/kaleidoscope or follow The Kaleidoscope Festival on social media at @sruartsfest on Instagram and Twitter.
