Artistic students met the first Monday of October with a dancing gold crystal and a flash mob on the Reitz Union Colonnade.
The UF College of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts College Council hosted an arts and cultural opportunities fair Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Reitz Colonnade in celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month.
With about 70 campus and local clubs and organizations participating, the fair offered students a chance to find unique ways to connect with the art community.
Rachel Berry, a development program assistant in the dean's office in the College of Fine Arts, said this is the first National Arts and Humanities Month that has been officially recognized on campus. She said that many students spend their years at UF without engaging in the arts.
"It's easy not to realize how much the arts, humanity and culture have to offer at the university," Berry said.
Fernando Masterson, 19, telecommunications sophomore, was surprised to see the presence the arts and humanities community has on campus.
"I had no idea there were so many opportunities to get involved with the arts."
UF President Bernie Machen was among several speakers at the fair. Machen noted the importance of art in the life of the campus and local community.
"It [National Arts and Humanities Month] is a reminder to all of us here at UF that the arts are the electrical current that will light up the future of our university and the city of Gainesville," Machen said. "You can't have a vibrant, innovative community without a vibrant, artistic community. It just doesn't work."
The month's events include the Art Bash, the Florida Writers' Festival and the Conference of the Social Sciences.
The Swamp Symphony on Flavet Field will end the celebration and formally kick off Homecoming events on Oct. 27.
For a complete list of events, go to arts.ufl.edu/ahmonth.
Second-year graduate students Katie Pankow, 24, and Joshua Hamilton, 26, perform an improv show Monday on the Reitz Union Colonnade.
