ArtsX began in 2004 when new faculty member Dusty Herbig suggested bringing all the holiday sales sponsored by the different student clubs under one roof. It was an idea he brought from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
At that time painting professor Dennis Wojtkiewicz envisioned it as expanding its range to include more music. The first open house, then known as Arts Extravaganza, featured the Rob Howard Jazz Quartet.
By the next year creative writing, music, and theater were involved.
The free event slowly grew, attracting the university and Bowling Green Community.
The opening of the Wolfe Center next door to the School of Art allowed the event to expand. The center, with its two theaters, myriad studios and open public spaces seemed designed to host what was a festival of the arts , that was always open to experimentation.
This year’s festival, “Rhythm & Resonance.” Presented Saturday Dec. 7 from 5-9 p.m., continues in that spirit. It opens as it has for a number of years with the Kazenodaichi Taiko drum ensemble in the Wolfe Center in the Wolfe Center Lobby.
From then on its a steady stream of visual art, including the Faculty Exhibition and student art sales, music, theater, poetry, comedy, film and more. Too much for anyone to take it al in.
In keeping with the theme three guest artists will be featured.
Guest performers are:
- Caña Flamenca at 5:30 p.m. n the Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center. Griset Damas-Roche founded her dance company, Caña Flamenca, in 1998 when she moved to Bogotá, Colombia from Havana, Cuba. Now living in Columbus, Ohio, Damas-Roche is a dance teacher, choreographer, and Flamenco dancer who has danced with many world-renowned organizations, including the Spanish Ballet of Havana, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá,. She is the artistic director of U Will Dance Studio and the director of the Flamenco Company of Columbus.
- Mady Kouyate at 6 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Lobby and 8:05 p.m. Wolfe Center Lobby. Mady Kouyate is a musician, singer and kora player from Mali, West Africa. He is a master of the kora, a traditional 21-stringed lute-bridge harp used by the Manding people of West Africa. He is known for his virtuosic playing style, as well as his powerful and emotive singing voice. He has released several albums as a solo artist and has also collaborated with other musicians and bands from Mali and West Africa. Mady lives in Michigan and performs in the Detroit area.
- Tumbao Bravo at 7 p.m. in the Donnell Theatre. Formed in August 2003 by reedman Paul VornHagen and conguero Alberto Nacif, Tumbao Bravo has released five critically acclaimed CDs of mostly original compositions that have been featured on jazz public radio stations throughout the United States. Winner of the 2005, 2007 and 2013 Detroit Music Awards for Best Jazz Recording and Best World Music Band, this combo, which includes Olman E. Piedra, who received his doctorate in contemporary music from BGSU, has performed at all the major Michigan jazz/music festivals.
