Camie Williams, a public relations coordinator for the Provost, has seen the festival grow since it first began.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was started as a way to highlight all of the amazing arts units that are already on campus, and give an opportunity to students to see how they can get involved,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n
Members of the Men\u2019s Glee Club sing during Student Spotlight<\/p>\n The attendance rates show how the festival has progressed since its inception. In 2012, 14,788 people attended<\/a>. In 2013, 16,659 people attended<\/a>, more than 21,000 people attended<\/a> in 2014, nearly\u00a022,000 people attended<\/a> in 2015 and more than 23,000 people attended<\/a> in 2016 and in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it began, there were about 40 events. Now there are over 100 events and exhibitions<\/a>. The attendance has hit records every year since it started,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n Diversity in the Arts<\/strong><\/p>\n Williams also says that the university makes a conscious effort to try to showcase UGA\u2019s diversity when planning these events.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have diversity on our campus and it\u2019s great to make sure that everybody sees that as well. We have a picture of an African-American cellist on one of our posters, and a man came up to me last year and asked if we had anymore events like this, because he wants his son to see it, to see that he can do this too,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n The Student Spotlight event took place on Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on a mild, sunny day. Students and other people on campus stopped by Tate Plaza throughout the day to watch the different student performances. Members of the Black Theatrical Ensemble performed two pieces – \u201cFly\u201d and \u201cFlowers.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimarah Laurent, a 21-year-old senior majoring in theatre from Loganville, Georgia, is the president of the Black Theatrical Ensemble. She performed at Student Spotlight.<\/p>\n Members of the Black Theatrical Ensemble perform at Student Spotlight<\/p>\n \u201cFor this show, we decided to do two pieces this time. Our first [performance] that you saw was \u2018Flowers,\u2019 this was our first time performing this piece. The second piece – \u2018Fly\u2019- we did for Cafe Soul,\u201d Laurent says.<\/p>\n Jaquan Hutcherson, a 21-year-old entertainment and media studies major from Columbia, South Carolina, also performed at\u00a0 Student Spotlight as a member of the Black Theatrical Ensemble.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did \u2018Flowers\u2019 for domestic abuse awareness. We wanted to show what goes on with the abuser and the victim. I\u2019m the male counterpart, and through the back and forth between us, you can see each viewpoint,\u201d Hutcherson says.<\/p>\n \u201cFly\u201d was inspired largely by Nina Simone\u2019s song \u201cBlackbird.\u201d Hutcherson and Laurent say that the purpose of this performance is to inspire people to break free from any entity that is holding them back. For the second part of the performance – \u201cFly\u201d- Hutcherson came up with the idea to use a chain as a prop.<\/p>\n \u201cTrying to break free- that\u2019s really a big theme of the piece. By the end, we drop the chains, because we realize that all of the power is within us,\u201d Hutcherson says.<\/p>\n Room for Improvement<\/strong> \u201cWe get these emails about football games each week, but why don\u2019t we get anything about art performances?\u201d Hutcherson says.<\/p>\n Laurent believes that UGA could do a better job at promoting its diverse students in the arts.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like, yes, there is an effort to promote diversity, but there\u2019s always something more that can be done. I feel like we do still have to work on that as a school, and hopefully, sooner than later,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Laurent says.<\/p>\n UGA students do arts and crafts during Student Night<\/p>\n Becca Gross is a third-year art history major from Columbus, Georgia. She hosted the Student Night event at the Lamar Dodd School of Art on Nov. 9. Gross has ideas about how Spotlight on the Arts could be improved.<\/p>\n Becca Gross poses at Student Night<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on that people don\u2019t know about. If I could improve Spotlight on the Arts, I would make it longer and more frequent,\u201d Gross says.<\/p>\n \u00a0A UGA student makes a button during Student Night<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.courtneytee.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2017-11-02-14.15.01-HDR-300x225.jpg\")
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\nHutcherson and Laurent know about life as UGA students interested in the arts. Hutcherson thinks that the university could do a better job advertising different art showcases and performances.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.courtneytee.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_7575-3-300x225.jpg\")
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