USM’s Multi-Arts Celebration Revelry Returns This Month

Tue, 02/13/2024 - 04:57pm | By: Ivonne Kawas

The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) School of Performing and Visual Arts (SPVA) will present another impressive line-up for its sixth annual Revelry, a multi-arts celebration that boasts more than 40 events from Feb. 16 through March 2 on the Hattiesburg campus.

Revelry brings the University’s finest talents to the community by showcasing the best in art and design, dance, and theatre. Performances, exhibitions, guest artists, lectures, panel discussions, master classes, and workshops across SPVA will be featured. Learn more for a complete schedule of events.

Meg Brooker, professor of dance and director of the SPVA, notes that this year’s festival should rise above all previous engagements.

“This year's festival promises to be the best one yet, as it includes a wide range of activities from faculty-led class collaborations and headlining events to our popular Community Day offering,” said Brooker. “We look forward to celebrating and showcasing the creativity and talents of our faculty, staff, and students, throughout our campus and in selected venues in downtown Hattiesburg.”

The "Faces of Freedom Summer, 1964" photography exhibit will be on display through Feb. 24 in the Museum of Art/Gallery of Art and Design in the George Hurst Building. This exhibit features Civil Rights Movement photographer Herbert Randall’s documentation of Freedom Summer in Hattiesburg.

On Feb. 19 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., in conjunction with the exhibit, students in Dr. Candice Salyers’ Honors Colloquium class will engage in a play reading of Frank Kuhn's "Voices of Freedom Summer," which was written from historical documents and inspired by these very photos.

Additionally, from 7- 8:00 p.m., the PBS American Experience “Freedom Summer Documentary” will be screened. The screening is free and open to the public (capacity limited to 100 seats). Both Voices and the Freedom Summer documentary include real testimonials and accounts of violence and hate speech that occurred during the Freedom Summer 1964 and may not be suitable for some audience members. Discretion is advised.

Later in the month, Southern Miss Theatre presents The Seagull, or How To Eat It, Anton Chekhov’s classic play that gets reinvented in hilarious and contemporary ways by emerging playwright (and 2022 USM Blaine Quarnstrom playwright-in-residence) Gab Reisman. Performances will be on Feb. 22, 23, and 24 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinée on Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in the Hartwig Theatre. Price of admission is $8 for students; $15 for faculty, staff, seniors, and military; and $18 for the general public.

The festival’s highly anticipated Community Day will be held on Feb. 24 in the 3D Arts Building. It will be filled with engaging activities for community members of all ages. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in scratch block and book making, an aluminum pour, clay/ceramics making session and more! These events are free and available to the public (limited capacity for each event).

The arts festival will cap off with two-nights of dance during the Dance Gala on March 1-2 at 7 p.m. in The Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium. It will feature choreography and performances from guest artists along with USM dance faculty and students. Price of admission for the Dance Gala is $8 for students; $15 for faculty, staff, military, and seniors; and $18 for the general public.

“We look forward to not only opening our creative spaces in the Southern Miss campus but also extending the reach of the arts into the Hattiesburg community,” added Brooker.

Notable events to be held in downtown Hattiesburg and the surrounding area include:

• An exhibit of “Painting and Poetry,” showcasing paintings by students from USM and William Carey University from Feb 16. through March 2 at the Phyllis Downey Gallery at University Baptist Church.
  
  
• A collaborative dance performance “Many Faces of Love” featuring pianist Sherry Cheng (from Houston, Texas), Meg Brooker and Duncan Dance South on Feb. 17 from 5-6 p.m. in the cultural center, held in collaboration with the Hattiesburg Arts Council; and “Tasting Art” on Feb. 26 at the Buschman Street Café, event for ages 21 and older.

From yoga in the Gallery of Art and Design to getting crafty at the community workshops, there is an event for everyone. Revelry is made possible thanks to the generous support of Partners for the Arts.

To curate your own Revelry 2024 schedule a visit.