Most people know Studio Arts as either a bus route that takes one to Walmart or a far-off University of Iowa building unique in that it once was a Menards. But on Friday, Studio Arts will be transformed into an art extravaganza known as ArtsFest.
ArtsFest, put on by the UI School of Art and Art History, will be held from 4 to 7 p.m.
UI senior Rachel Winter, the 2015 ArtsFest coordinator, planned an event that combines numerous art forms.
“What preparations haven’t gone into [ArtsFest]?” she said. “We start in September and identify a committee that we want to work with that that represents every discipline so that everyone is equally represented, and we pick a theme for our main Drewelowe exhibit.”
Winter said the Drewelowe exhibit is the feature she looks forward to the most. The exhibit examines the past, present, and future of the UI art school — including its road to a new art studio building after the original was destroyed in the 2008 flood.
“It’ll be looking at where we are now, what progress we’ve had, things we’ve done in the past few years, and looking at how we will continue to progress as a school once we get the new building,” Winter said. “I’ll be curious to see how each discipline interprets the theme and brings it all together.”
ArtsFest, during its three hours, will have numerous events for the attendees as well as exhibits.
“We have the entire Studio Arts building covered in art,” said Megan Farlow, a junior who will take over as coordinator for the event next year. “The Iowa City public and the students of UI are able to see what we work on all year, as well as demonstrations from some of our studio departments … Instead of just looking at art, you are able to see how it’s made and who made it.”
Both Farlow and Winter said the event is not only open to the UI community but to the larger Iowa City community.
“You get to see art-history presentations next to sculptures and painting next to performance,” Farlow said. “It’s just great to see what they work so hard on and are so passionate about.”
— by Devyn Young
ArtsFest
Where: Studio Arts