UW-La Crosse’s School of Arts and Communication’s 2017 Creative Imperatives festival opens to the public on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. This year’s theme is “Identity Matters” and will explore the meaning behind the phrase. There will be various events and topics that organizers hope spark many different conversations.

Department of theater chair, Joe Anderson commented on the process of deciding on “Identity Matters” as a theme, “We all have an identity, or multiple, that we present to the world depending on where we are, who we are with, and how we want the world to see us.”

Anderson reiterated the importance of identity and why it matters, “Many people all over the world feel their identity is under attack,” Anderson explains, “The more we know about identity and how varied it is, the more open we can be to understanding perspectives that differ from our own.”

The festival will consist of various events, from student productions to performances by featured guests. Just a few of those featured guests include Hamilton cast member Karen Olivo, speaker and LGBTQ activist CeCe McDonald, as well as author Kristin Cronn-Mills.

Besides the featured guests, many students will be taking part in their own events. UW-L students Sofia Kozidis and John Paul Peckham are in charge of this year’s interactive art project. “While a picture can say a thousand words, a lot of times it doesn’t say everything,” Kozidis said.

Kozidis and Peckham have been setting up a photo booth around campus to capture students on camera, with a caption that explains a little about them. “A lot of people are labeled by their identity, but you need to know more than just an image,” Kozidis explained. The project will be in the Center for the Arts Monday and Tuesday of next week.

UW-L Senior Allante Walker spoke on their creative imperatives involvement, “I will be in the musical theater showcase on Monday, as well as the improvisation workshop on Tuesday.”

Walker gave their view on the importance of identity, “Now more than ever I think it is a time to feel comfortable with who you are, while also embracing the differences of others.”

Anderson hopes to elicit discussion on the topic of identity, “We hope that people will have discussions about what identity means to them and why understanding identity is so important.”

Anderson continues, “None of us can escape the fact that we have an identity, we simply do. How we project that identity into the world may vary, but we all have one just the same.”

Creative Imperatives begins Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 and goes through Wednesday, March 1, 2017.

For more information and a list of events go to https://www.uwlax.edu/globalassets/eventsconferences/creative-imperatives/creative-imperatives-2017-program-web2.pdf

For specific questions, email [email protected]