The annual ACE (Academic and Creative Excellence) Festival has become a hallmark of student tradition at EMU, being one of the biggest opportunities for students to not only apply their studies but also to showcase their creativity and critical thinking abilities in context to topics that are meaningful to them. The festival traditionally occurs over the course of a day in which classes are canceled and students are encouraged to attend and engage with their peers’ presentations, exhibits, and other activities.
As is the case with nearly all events over the past year, though, COVID has dramatically altered the format of the festival, shifting the timeline to a week-long slate of online presentations, displays, and keynote speakers from April 19 to 24. Instead of canceling classes, the events are now occurring online throughout the week at various times or being made available for viewing for the entirety of the week, with students still being encouraged to attend in some capacity. Some events, such as the Senior Art Gallery, can still be viewed in person at Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery, but most are occurring remotely, with the added bonus of several of them offering convocation points.
Whether it be the complex, head-spinning visual puzzles of fourth-year student Jared Oyer’s “Aerial Perspective” series, the beautiful, subtly emotional, and representational selective color of Michaela Lane’s “Selective Color Theory”, or the provocative and visually enticing photography of Katie Meza’s “Numinous” series, the Senior Art Gallery is one of the many highlights of this year’s festival. While all of the exhibits are of a photographic medium, each of the three seniors injects their own unique aesthetics and visual theories, creating a collective gallery experience that is both a visual treat and a complex study of the principles that make us human and deeply expressive beings.
Some of the other festival highlights include several presentations by CJP (Center for Justice and Peacebuilding) students, online research poster displays from a variety of disciplines– including biology and chemistry, applied psychology, peacebuilding and development, and Spanish– as well as several other presentations across departments, from the Nursing Department’s “Stories from the Bedside: Exemplars of the Sacred Covenant Model for Nursing” to the Seminary’s “Spirituality and Imagination” capstone presentations.
Along with the student exhibits and presentations, the week also includes a keynote address led by Rabbi Niles Goldstein, a discussion on Asian discrimination and hate crimes in light of COVID led by the Asian-Pacific Islander Student Alliance, a Music Department recital, a demonstration of the Engineers for a Sustainable World club’s Super-Mileage Car, an artist talk with fourth-year Kirstin Meza, an EMU authors’ reception, an ice cream celebration, and a senior jazz recital featuring the Bluesberrys.
If you’re interested in any of the ACE events or posted presentations and exhibits, links are located on the events calendar found on the EMU website, or in one of the several emails sent detailing the week. It’s a wonderful opportunity to engage with the diverse population of EMU, support student accomplishment, and see some of the really meaningful and inspiring things that the EMU community is doing.
