The recipients of the 2023 Artsfest Alumni Awards were announced last week as the College wrapped up its annual two-week celebration of the arts. Organized by faculty and students in Arts, Literature and Communication, ArtsFest offers students in every program the chance to showcase their literary, musical and visual art projects.
This year’s edition was the first since 2019 to be held on campus. Hundreds of students, alumni, parents and faculty participated in an eclectic offering of concerts, visual art exhibitions, film screenings, digital projects, poetry readings and the launch of a new edition of the student literary magazine.
Congratulations to Arts, Literature & Communication program coordinator Selena Liss and student organizers Hala Abosali, Laura Cordoba Prado, Luna Dong, Sophie Harasymowycz, Seongwoo Jang, Alexandre Lauren, Celine Li, Yuanyi Ma, Nora Malhi, Elan Martin-Prashad, Karina Matei, Vanessa Nseir, Soyeon Park, Evelina Rusu and Kerry Xu for organizing an incredible lineup of events.
Take a look at the creative endeavors that were honoured and other highlights from ArtsFest !
Vernissage
The Vernissage event was open to the general public, with visual art projects of all kinds displayed throughout the College in classrooms, hallways and in the library.
Attendees also had the chance to bid on some of the stunning student pieces, with 100% of proceeds donated to VIBE Arts, a nonprofit that works to create arts education programming in under-resourced areas.
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – Visual Arts
Winner: Ange-Anael Tchamani Tchokogué, Can I Touch It?
Runner Up: Alex Xin, Second Skin
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – Film, Video or Animation
Winner: Ethan Auerbach, Global Warming: An Environmental Animation
Runner Up: Patricia Doyle, Mind Over Motor
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – Miscellaneous Category
Winner: Juliana Gelber, Between the Ears, Behind the Eyes: Music, Design, and the Mind
Runner Up: Camille Malaterre, The Highs (and lows) of Drug Discovery Through Time
Musical Events
Two different concerts were part of the festival this year.
The ArtsFest Concert invited students in every program of study -and even faculty- to perform one of their favourite pieces of music before an audience in the Auditorium.
MLorK, the Marianopolis laptop orchestra directed by Professor Cory McKay, featured students playing their original digital music, often accompanied by visual components.
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – ArtsFest Concert Performance
Winner: Devon Packer, piano
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – MLOrk Laptop Orchestra
Winners: Dante Lasso, Runa Kove, Victoria Shen Yang and Zoe Pusztai, Synths and Sounds
Literary Events
Members of the writing club chose ArtsFest to launch the latest print edition of Daemon’s Quill, the student literary and arts journal. The 2023 edition of the festival wrapped up with The Poet’s Café, where students gathered in the arts studio to read excerpts of their creative work.
2023 ArtsFest Alumni Award – Written Work
Winner: Vincent Costa, The Best Dressed Man in Montreal
Runner Up: Lucie Soussana, House on Fire