On Monday, Feb. 27, and Tuesday, Feb. 28, UWL’s School of Visual and Performing Arts is set to host their inaugural Creative Imperatives festival under a new name. The event is now called UWL ArtsFest, and this year’s theme is “A Beautiful Remedy for Today.”

According to Laurie Kincman, the festival coordinator, this year’s festival will serve to showcase the role of the arts in health and healing, and there will be events highlighting artistic creations, arts-infused techniques, and arts-inspired events and memorials. All events are free and available to the public.

On top of the sessions that will be offered by UWL faculty and staff, there will be numerous special guests attending the festival. Guests include Julieth Maya, Columbian artist, the New York-based Elevate Theatre Company, as well as Dr. Shawn Copeland, musician and certified Alexander technique instructor.

Maya is hosting an exhibition called “Art and Motherhood in Latin America,” which begins on Feb. 28 in the lobby of the Lowe Center for the Arts. On March 1, Maya will also perform “Parto: No Son Nueve Meses (Delivery Not Just Nine Months)” in the lobby of the Lowe Center for the Arts. The piece will be performed in Spanish with supporting text in English.

Dr. Copeland is offering Alexander technique sessions in Annett Recital Hall in the Lowe Center for the Arts on Feb. 27 at 9:55 a.m. and Feb. 28 at 1:10 p.m. He’s also hosting an additional session in room 56 of the Lowe Center for the Arts at 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 27.

The Elevate Theatre Company will perform in the Toland Theatre of the Lowe Center for the Arts on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Their performance, “Home is Where the Fund is,” will feature ChelseaDee (playwright), Natalie Djondo, Christina Eskridge, Princess Jacob, Alverneq Lindsay, and Jamie Roach.

The UWL Art Gallery’s featured exhibit will be comprised of a selection of panels from the National AIDS Memorial Quilt, memorializing individuals from the La Crosse area. Each quilt is hand-sewn and stitched together, sharing the names and stories of individuals and loved ones lost to AIDS. Created in 1985 by gay rights activist Cleve Jones, the quilt now weighs 54 tons and has 50,000 panels with nearly 110,000 names.

Program Manager Jada Harris of the AIDS Memorial Foundation will offer a discussion on the quilt on Feb. 27 at 2:15 p.m. The discussion will occur in room 116 of the Lowe Center for the Arts. A second discussion will be held on Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in Anett Recital Hall, which will cover local connections and responses to the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Will Van Rosenbeek will be the moderator along with panelists Leslie Shield, Tom Boylan, UWL News and Marketing Director Brad Quarberg, and Wellness Education Specialist Katie Jenson.

Students and members of the La Crosse community will have the opportunity to create a quilt panel with UWL professor Joe Anderson on Feb. 27 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. or on Feb. 28 from 9:25 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Anderson’s sessions will be held in the costume shop of the Lowe Center for the Arts.

On Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m., John Prine’s music will be on display during the “Remedies for the Blues and Other Funks” event in Annett Recital Hall at the Lowe Center for the Arts. “Bibliotherapy in Picture Books” is another session that will be held on Feb. 28 at 12:00 p.m. on the second floor of Murphy Library in the Curriculum Center.

On Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m., there will be a public performance of an upcoming album featuring Jon Ailabouni (trumpet), Jeff Erickson (tenor saxophone), Luke Thering (piano), Brad Townsend (bass), and Nick Zielinski (drums). The session, entitled “You Are Not Alone: New Music for Emotional Catharsis and Societal Healing,” will occur in Annett Recital Hall in the Lowe Center for the Arts, and there will be time allotted for a Q&A with the musicians.

For the official schedule, updates, performer biographies, and any additional information on this year’s ArtsFest, refer to their page on UWL’s website or their Facebook page.