Perception & Power Workshop
Tuesday, October 7, 2025, 5:00 - 6:30 pm, Free
Dinner is provided for participants and registration is limited. Register now

Explore how power is perceived and revealed with visiting artist Anthony Sonnenberg. This workshop includes both hands-on making and a discussion around how power is visually demonstrated in popular culture, history and within our everyday life.

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All that Glitters Brunch Reception & Meet the Artist Event
Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Free
All are welcome, no registration required.
Padnos Student Gallery, Calder Fine Arts Center, Valley (Allendale) Campus

Meet visiting artist Anthony Sonnenberg & discuss the significance of decoration. What is decoration? What is decoration doing? What stories does decoration tell?

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Beauty Parlor: Artist Talk by Anthony Sonnenberg
Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 7:00 - 8:30 pm, Free
All are welcome, no registration required.
Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew (City) Campus
INT 100/201 APPROVED

With artwork ranging in medium from porcelain to performance Anthony Sonnenberg asserts that decoration is personal, political & powerful. In this lecture, learn about his artistic practice, current research and investigation into why decoration matters. Reception to follow in the Regency Room.

Learn more about the artist.

Poetry Night with Tyehimba Jess
Thursday, October 16, 2025, 7:00 - 8:30 pm, free
A book signing will follow the presentation
Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew (City) Campus
INT 100/201 Approved

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess is the author of two award-winning books of poetry, Leadbelly and Olio. Jess's poems operate in many modes from biography to lyric, from traditional structures to innovative forms of his own invention. His first book, Leadbelly, explores the life of the legendary blues musician Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter through a combination of personal and historical perspectives. His second book, Olio, is made of poems half-rooted in fact and half-rooted in fiction as it presents the lives of African American vaudeville performers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Occurring annually, GVSU Poetry Night has a tradition of bringing some of the most celebrated and distinguished poets to enlighten and entertain. It is one of the largest poetry reading series in the state thanks to the generosity of donors and the university, Poetry Night events are always free and open to the public.

Learn more about the artist.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
Monday, November 3, 2025, 7:00 – 8:00 pm, free with a reserved ticket
Reception to immediately follow the performance.
Haas Center for Performing Arts – Louis Armstrong Theatre 
INT 100/201 Approved

Welcome to Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), where powerful storytelling meets bold, expressive movement. Founded in 1968, DCDC is celebrated for its deep roots in African American dance traditions and its compelling blend of modern, contemporary, ballet, jazz, and global movement styles. Our performances are known for their athleticism, grace, and emotional depth—each one inviting audiences on a journey that bridges history, culture, and innovation. We’re proud to bring you dance that reflects the richness of our communities and the diversity of the human experience.

At the heart of DCDC’s mission is a commitment to inspire and cultivate the next generation of dance artists. Through educational programs, residencies, and collaborative projects, we strive to provide young dancers with opportunities to grow artistically and professionally. This performance is a proud example of that commitment, featuring the talented dance students of Grand Valley State University. Their inclusion in this production reflects our belief in the power of collaboration and shared creative experience. Together, we continue to expand the reach of dance and celebrate its ability to connect, uplift, and transform.

Learn more about these artists.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is supported in part by Culture Works, Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District, Ohio Arts Council, the Mellon Foundation, Miriam Rosenthal Foundation, Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts, The Virginia W. Kettering Foundation, and the Dayton Foundation. 

Stories Reimagined: Narrative Art in the Digital Age Exhibit
August 25 - November 7, 2025
Haas Center for Performing Arts Gallery (PAC 1121), Allendale (Valley) Campus

Artists often play the role of storyteller. They have been the illustrators of our important social, cultural, and religious narratives that have historically been passed down over generations. They have also used storytelling as a tool to share and interpret their own lived experiences with others and advocate for social change. Today, when digital tools present new ways to create and mediate our narrative experiences, Stories Reimagined brings together artists working in this genre alongside technological applications and collaborators.

We are in an era where technology is rapidly evolving, allowing artists and partners to create artwork enhanced by digital tools, produce new works born in a digital space, and work alongside AI (Artificial Intelligence) to generate novel conceptual constructs. Each of these approaches comes with risks and challenges, as artists, colleagues, and viewers must learn to operate new technologies and consider the ethics of their use.

However, the results can be engaging and eye-opening, as many of the works in this exhibition illustrate. They draw together threads of memory, imagination, myth, social action, and creative expression, and many are further enhanced and their narratives layered with audio, video, text, and digital animation. This points to the amazing potential to reimagine storytelling through the intersection of art and technology.

Learn more about this exhibit.

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