Follow @angelambeel

Students will be able to immerse themselves in a variety of fine arts performances at Sam Houston State University’s second annual Fine Arts Festival on May 5.

The festival is being put on by Raven Films, which is SHSU’s first and only student filmmaking organization.

The festival will include a variety of different performances including dance, visual art, short films and musical and theatrical performances that will begin at 5 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.

In-house composer for Raven Films and music education major Joseph Vranas, said that the goal of the festival is to bring awareness to the different types of art that can be experienced and hopes students walk away feeling inspired.

“It is the intention of Raven Films, through this festival, to unite the Fine Arts Departments in complete collaboration, such as dancers choreographing to a student’s music or a painter creating a work through inspiration from another student’s poem,” Vranas said.

Raven Films Historian Fariha Alam said that Raven Films has developed a deep appreciation for the Fine Arts.

“We have been enlightened with every branch, twig and leaf that embodies what fine art essentially is and understood that ultimately, film is the middle ground for all of those elements,” Alam said.

Vranas adds that there is a lot more variety in what will be seen at the festival this year.

“There is way more collaboration this year,” Vranas said. “Last year, it was mostly music and film. This year, as per our intended goal, we attempted to reach out to all the Fine Arts on campus.”

The event will feature a cocktail hour at the beginning of the night where attendees can network with others and see the Art Gallery display with works produced by both art and non-art majors.

There will also be a choreographed dance, “Naniss?anah”, which Vranas also composed the music.

Some other performances will include the works of music major Nathan Mays’s “Man with the Blue Box” which is a harp piece that he wrote for Heather Woitena.

There will also be a reading from the film “Men in Progress” which will begin production in the fall, and the feature length film “The Artist,” which Vranas wrote the score for, will close out the show.

Freshman Mark Redd, who is one of the readers in “Men In Progress,” said that he’s excited to see the work come to life and that he hopes this year’s festival will be even better than last years.

“I wasn’t here last year, but I hope that it will be bigger and brighter,” Redd said. “My biggest hope is that it will continue to combine the fine arts at SHSU, because honestly we are all in this together.”

Vranas’ desire is that students will become acquainted with other art forms.

“Among everything, I want students to realize there are other art forms out there, and I want them to be able to include them in their own work,” Vranas said.

The festival is free and is open to the public and is expected to be finished by 9:30 p.m.