Arts and Media fair offers students variety

The upcoming Bonaventure Arts and Media fair is an opportunity for the university and local community to enjoy all areas of art.This year's BAM fair will be held Saturday April 19 in the San Damiano Room in Francis Hall. The event is free and open to everyone.

The BAM fair will be a day-long event starting at noon and ending with a concert beginning at 7 p.m.

Bill Boguski, '07, and Rebecca Dahl, '06, formed BAM in 2006 to provide a place for students and the community to talk about music, politics and art, said Catherine Kula, a senior English major and president and head coordinator of BAM.

The money raised in previous years was donated to the Olean Art Space, said Melissa Sloan, a senior English major and vice-president of BAM.

This year, BAM officials are looking for a different organization to donate to.

BAM brings diversity to campus to celebrate the "do-it-yourself" work ethic and independent spirit, Kula said.

Students will be displaying their music and poetry throughout the day, Kula said.

Students Matt Brooks, Mike Ersing and Sean O'Shea plan to perform acoustic sets, along with former students Boguski and John Caceci, Kula said.

The concert is scheduled to highlight bands Ice Cream Social, The Allupons, A Hotel Nourishing, Entropy's End, Shipshape and performer Rebecca Ryskalczyk, Sloan said. The history club, Richard Simpson's Creative Writing poetry class, Animal Rights Advocates and members of the recycling club are also involved in the fair.

The fair is an opportunity for these student groups to show the community what they are about, said Kula.

"BAM is a great opportunity for student groups." Kula said. "It gives all groups an opportunity to display to the crowd what they do. It is a great way for groups to reach out to the students and to recruit students to participate in their group."

Students who attend the BAM fair will get to enjoy local artists, among other things.

"Students should come because the BAM fair is going to be like a day-long party," Kula said.

"Students can come and hang out, tie-dye with members of the recycling club, listen to students and their music and poetry and then rock out at night with the bands we will be hosting," Kula said.

According to Sloan, students seeking variety will not be disappointed.

"It's a chance to experience new things, listen to music, enjoy art, listen to poetry, and it's all free," Sloan said.

Some students are attending the fair because it provides something out of the ordinary.

Andrew Geary, a sophomore undeclared business major, said, "I'm looking forward to the fair. It gives me something to do. There (aren't) that many events like this on campus."

Other students plan to attend the event to enjoy the music with their friends.

Rob Conigliaro, a sophomore philosophy major, said, "I'm planning to go to the fair with my friends to check out the bands that are coming. It should be a good time."

According to Kula, the turnouts for the fair in previous years were low because the group was just forming.

"Being a new group to the campus - just this past year we got chartered - the turnouts weren't all that spectacular. However, that didn't matter to the students who helped organize the fair," Kula said.

This year members and participants of BAM are hoping for a better turnout.

"We really want this year's BAM to involve more students. The surrounding communities have been extremely supportive of our group. I really hope the students here at Bonaventure will embrace it as much as the community has," Sloan said.

Members of BAM have been working hard to advertise the event. They have posted flyers, made a Facebook group, posted on Notice Boards and created a MySpace account.

"I am expecting a better turnout this year because we have advertised the fair as much as we could. We have put a lot of time and energy into creating this fair," Kula said. "It will be a rockin' good time.