The sixth annual Creative Imperatives event is approaching at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The 3-day festival – held on Sunday, March 3 through Tuesday, March 5 – will feature the theme ‘Freedom Unbound: The Power of the Arts’.  

This year, UWL’s College of Liberal Studies presents the Creative Imperatives, which includes 35 sessions that are free and open to the public. The showcase aims to showcase expressions of freedom and human experience.  

The festival will hold performances, workshops, exhibits, open studios, and presentations by students, faculty, and special guests. This year, UWL welcomes the pianist Brendan Kinsella, the photographer and multimedia artist Swanson AlSaraf, and the director for the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minnestoa Sarah Bellamy.  

“The amount of new things you can learn are infinite,” said Junior Sarah Daentl. “You don’t need to be creative or an artist to come to this festival.” 

A few of the sessions that students can attend are “Why We Write” hosted by the UWL Creative Writers, “Rehearsing Freedom” by the Theater Department, “Public Disclosures of Mental Health and NBA” by the CST department, and “Healing Through Art and Story Telling” by the education department.  

The session times can be found on the UWL’s Creative Imperatives page. In addition to the sessions, there is a handful of open studios that students can come watch UWL art students work on various projects. These sessions include printmaking, metal and blacksmithing, photography, and ceramics.  

New this year, there is an interactive art project being held. Daentl urges students to stop by their table located in the Student Union next week. Students will be asked to write on one of the birds, which will be displayed during the festival on the first floor of the CFA.  

These birds are a part of the theme, Freedom Unbound: The Power of the Arts. “A lot of these sessions are related to how arts and communication have helped people become free and how arts and communication have helped people stay free,” Daentl said.  

She shared that an Art Education Student is hosting a session that is based on the history of protest posters and gives the opportunity to current students to make their own poster. Another session will talk about the men in the NBA that have openly discussed their battles around their mental health. 

Daentl said, “The session focused on how freeing it can be to talk about mental health and how important it is to break down the stigma around mental health.” 

Communication Studies Lecturer Ayesha Patnaik and a group of UWL students will showcase a variety of photos from their recent study abroad trip to India.  

Patnaik said that a lot of the photos that will be presented in the gallery portray the essence of the people that are native to India, including portraits underprivileged students and abandoned widows.  

Natalie Simms, a student that went on the study abroad trip to India, said, “Even when I look at those pictures now, I instantly think of India.” She continued, “The Varanasi, was the most spiritual and humbling place to be. Whenever I reflect back on these pictures, it reminds me of that experience.” 

If you are interested in finding out more information about any of the sessions, check out their website: https://www.uwlax.edu/creative-imperatives/  OR like their Facebook page: UW-La Crosse Creative Imperatives.