In 2008, University junior Carlin Gettlife noticed that many students were so absorbed in school work and campus activities that they were missing out on city culture.
The Boulder, Colorado, native wanted to create a one-day “festival of creativity,” for people of all ages. He created ArtAwake, a food and music festival that would showcase the best of Rochester, and hundreds have come to the city each year for the event.
ArtAwake returns Saturday, April 16, hosted by the student organization Urban Exploring. It will be held from 2 p.m. to midnight at the Metropolitan on Main Street, on the site of the former Chase Tower. The melange of art, music, and food includes 16 musical acts, four dance performances, two performance art pieces, and 140 pieces of art–about half created by Rochester students.
Popular Rochester restaurants such Aladdin’s, Red Fern, and Juan and Maria’s Empanada Stop will be on hand. There also will be a cash bar from 5 to 11 p.m.
“We have everything from a Zimbabwean music group to a 70-pound metal sculpture,” says co-coordinator Adam Parker ’17, a political science major from Irvington, New York. “Our goal is to bring life to a vacant urban space in the City of Rochester. We want to unite the community: from college students, to families, to young professionals.”
Parker is co-creative director with Gabby Pulsinelli ’16, a studio art and environmental studies major from Bordertown, New Jersey. They head a group that includes 17 students from as far away as Russia and China under the direction of adviser Stacey Fisher, assistant director of Wilson Commons Student Activities.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Common Market in Wilson Commons or the Memorial Art Gallery for $8 (students), $9 (University community), and $10 (public). Tickets at the door are $10 (students), $11 (University community), and $12 (public). Exhibits and performances take place on the third and 14th floors. Students will work the elevators and transport visitors between floors. Parking is available on city streets and in garages.
Children under 12 will be admitted free.
This year’s sponsors are the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, the Southside Hall Council, Riverview/Brooks Hall Council, Susan B. Anthony Hall Council, Freshman Quad Hall Council, Jackson Court Hall Council, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
