L/L community puts on annual festival
May 3, 2018
On one of the first true days of spring, a residential community brought student artists into the light for the annual Furious Festival.
“We’re not used to playing in the light,” said junior Caroline Franks, guitarist for Father Figuer, one of the bands that performed during the festival. “Usually we only play in dark basements.”
Students came to support fellow artists who were selling their work or performing in the amphitheater from 1 to 6 p.m. April 21 for the Community Arts Development sixth Furious Festival.
CAD is a Living and Learning community formed in 2012 to provide students a space to participate in and collaborate around all forms of art, said junior Anna Elizabeth, a community student leader for CAD.
“I applied to CAD because I knew I wanted to be an environmental science major but art and music have always been a huge part of my life,” Elizabeth said. “A program like CAD allowed me to explore my love for music.”
The event featured a lineup of local bands: Father Figuer, Princess Nostalgia, Cool Person and the Nerds, Electric Hummus, Alone With the Moon, Full Walrus, J Bengoy, Mac Baker and The Guest Policy.
“My favorite part of the day was seeing my friends play their first live set,” sophomore Erin White said.
By putting student music in the spotlight, “CAD focuses on student creativity and allows bands and artists to gain support from the UVM community,” Elizabeth said.
“Events like this are important to let student artists know that what they do is appreciated and valid, so that they’ll continue to make art” Franks said.
In addition to music, student artists sold their work in a long line of fold out tables.
Adler Chris’ ceramic flasks glinted in the sun, Olivia Bowman’s collages called out to passerby’s, photographs, paintings, stickers and so much more was on display.
“We had a much bigger turnout this year, partly because we really lucked out with the weather, but also because we tried our best to advertise the event,” said sophomore Maria Pitari, another community student leader in the program.
Not only was the Furious Festival an opportunity for students to display their art, but the proceeds went to the South End Business and Arts Association.
SEABA promotes Burlington artists and businesses through advertising and events like the South End Art Hop, a yearly event much like the Furious Festival.
“We donate to SEABA because their mission is very similar to ours,” Pitari said. “They love to support local artists and so do we.”
By bringing artists together on such a fine day, CAD was able to accomplish something that sophomore Thaya Zalewski thinks the UVM administration often fails to do.
“UVM as a school needs to embrace the arts as equally valuable as STEM, and they need to show it in their funding,” Zalewski said.
The sunny day was an overall success that showed how much UVM students love art and love encouraging creativity, Pitari said.
“People need to understand that art is something you can feasibly spend your whole life doing and it’s as equally legitimate as a career in math or science,” Franks said.
In addition to the Furious Festival, CAD hosts open mic nights in their suites in L/L E mid every other Friday and collaborate with Audio Arts for Amps in the Amphitheater in the fall.
