Alumni will flock into Athens this weekend for the College of Fine Arts’ 75th Anniversary celebration, which will feature film, art, theater, music and dance.
The three-day event, which begins Friday morning and ends with a breakfast in Walter Hall on Sunday, includes a Celebration of the Arts performance in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday.
“The biggest thing going on is the event on Saturday night, in which there will be live performances,” said Maureen Wagner, project director for Arts for Ohio. “There are films being shown, there are special tribute performances that are kind of secret.”
Ohio University President Roderick McDavis is part of Saturday night’s big event — he will be performing a rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
“There will be music and a choral group in the background,” McDavis said. “I was thrilled to be asked and I’m really excited.”
The anniversary weekend is an Arts for Ohio event, so students can get in free. Other tickets are $75. Tickets for the Celebration of the Arts performance are available at the Mem Aud box office now through the night of the event.
“It will be an incredible event,” Wagner said. “This is not a boring awards show, this is a fabulous performance.”
Other events throughout the weekend include art exhibits, film screenings, receptions and performances, according to the event website.
“This is probably… going to be one of the biggest college-wide alumni events that we’ve had at OU for College of Fine Arts alumni,” Wagner said. “There are going to be an enormous number of college alumni back.”
Wagner did not have an exact number for how many people the college expected will attend, but she said that she hopes many alumni and students will attend.
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