Chemistry and Spanish junior Stephen McNamara, who plays the man and the dog in the play “The Story of the Man who Turned into a Dog,” talks with Spanish senior Hallie LeBlanc de Smith, who played the wife in the play April 18, 2013, at MSU Auditorium. Justin Wan/The State News
For “Latin IS America” Festival co-director Ricardo Lorenz, the event was organized to celebrate the long-standing culture and relationship between the United States and Latin America.
“This is a relationship that goes back at least 150 years, if not more,” said Ricardo Lorenz, ‘Latin IS America’ co-director.
Latin IS America began Monday and runs through Saturday, April 27. The event will showcase artistic and scholarly works that highlight the relationship between the two countries.
“The College of Music has in the past organized concerts and lectures around the idea of showcasing Latin American culture, but this is the first time that we are presenting the Latin American culture not as a foreign culture, but as embedded in the culture of America,” Lorenz said.
The festival partially is funded by an $8,000 Excellence in Diversity award from the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives granted to the College of Music last August. The rest of the festival is funded through the College of Music.
“Latin IS America” co-director Mark Sullivan said he hopes the festival can become a multi-year event, but part of this goal depends on if the festival will continue to receive funds from Excellence in Diversity grant.
“(The Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives wants) to see what we said we could in the first year, and we would be considered for future awards,” Sullivan said. “We’re hoping we can build this over three years, but we have to reapply for next year.”
The festival features many aspects of Latin culture, including music, art, theater and literature. According to College of Music Communications Director Michael Sundermann, the festival is helping the MSU community understand how Latin American culture is intertwined through American culture.
“We’re doing that through arts and music and other forms, which is a more interesting way of getting people involved,” Sundermann said.
Lorenz added a big part of the festival is student involvement, not just from the MSU College of Music, but outside schools as well.
“We invited students from Oakland University, the (Oakland University Steel band and Steelheads Steel Orchestra) came and played on Monday,” he said. “The students are a big, big part of this.”
The festival also highlights a study abroad program hosted by the College of Music and the College of Social Sciences.
“Some of the guests (in the festival) that came from Cuba are people that we met from study abroad.” Lorenz said. “We made a long-lasting connection with those people.”
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