Beating the art out

Starting July 16, the calm of summer campus will be interrupted by dance, music and general artistic mayhem during the third annual UW Summer Arts Festival.

The festival, which attracted around 10,000 people to campus last year, features about 100 lectures and performances at a reasonable cost. In fact, about half of the events are free.

"You don't have to be wealthy or even [have much money at all] to come to the festival every day," said Hannah Wiley, arts festival director and dance professor.

This year's festival, themed "Beat," has flavors for every part of the artistic palate. One could start out on Tuesday with Latcho Drom, a cinematic tour de force that documents the travels of Gypsy communities through Asia, Africa and Europe, or join a crowd in Meany Studio Theater to watch the Chamber Dance Company perform "Upbeat."

Wiley suggests attendees get started with UW philosophy professor Ronald Moore in his lecture, "Pay Attention to the Beat!" Moore's lecture will focus on ideas prevalent half a century ago in the heyday of the "beatnik aesthetic."

"Get fired up with [Moore] and just follow the crowd for the rest of the day," suggests Wiley.

According to Wiley, there were about 120 people who attended every event at last year's Summer Arts Festival.

The festival, which Wiley compares to Ashland, Oregon's Shakespeare Festival, is a time to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. You can attend a lecture, eat a crepe while listening to a traveling Dutch and Indonesian band whose stage is a bus, or just sit under a tree and read a book.

"I get letters every year that say this is the best thing that's happened in this area for a long time," said Wiley. "It's not a frantic event; you can relax into the art form."

For students, the festival is an especially good deal. Wiley has tried to make the festival more accessible to students by lowering student prices. For example, a ticket to the play Accidental Death of an Anarchist, in the Hughes Penthouse Theatre, is $12 for the public, but $10 for students.

The schedule for the festival is still in flux but students who want to get the most out of the event are invited to enroll in Art 150, a summer-quarter class fulfilling five VLIPA credits. The class will attend many of the festival events and get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on. However, students are encouraged to enroll soon because spots are filling up fast.

The Summer Arts Festival runs July 16-20. Complete programs will be available at the festival. For more information about the festival and its participants, visit its home page at www.summerartsfest.org.