SUNY Potsdam Bachelor of Fine Arts student Abadeer Patten dons her wearable art project during last year's Festival of Lights event as part of the LoKo Festival of Arts.
SUNY Potsdam’s annual Lougheed-Kofoed Festival (LoKo) Festival of the Arts, the north country’s most comprehensive arts experience, will take over campus from April 28 to May 7. Both campus and community are welcome to experience a variety of free cross-disciplinary art experiences at the 2017 LoKo Festival.
Every day offers unique performances, workshops and guest speaker appearances. Two accomplished SUNY Potsdam alumni will be back on campus to discuss their careers in the arts. Saad Hajidin ’88 will talk about his transition from a SUNY Potsdam printmaking studio to a career at Donna Karan, Liz Claiborne and Ralph Lauren, where he is currently a senior director. Stephan Savoia ’75, a Pulitzer Prize winning AP photographer will share his photographs and stories from a career as a photojournalist covering presidential campaigns, natural disasters and the Olympic games.
Take in a concert by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, as they perform Francis Poulenc’s “Gloria” and Sergei Rachmaninoff “The Bells” one night, then attend a senior choreography concert the following afternoon and a workshop on stage makeup or creating human forms for theatrical props the day after that.
The festival will also feature five performances of “The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite” by Wole Soyinka, a completely student run production adapted from Euripides’ Ancient Greek classic play.
These are just a few of the many events on the LoKo calendar this year, with a diverse array of offerings to ensure there is something for everyone to enjoy. All events are free and open to the public, except for one special performance by Branford Marsalis Quartet. This concert features one of the most innovative and forward-thinking jazz ensembles around today.
“Being ‘LoKo’ for the arts means that we are passionate about the culture of creativity on our campus, and that we embrace the diversity of expression that is embodied here at SUNY Potsdam,” President Kristin G. Esterberg said. “We are so thankful to the Lougheeds for making this incredible festival possible, both for our campus and the entire North Country community.”
Kathryn (Kofoed) ’54 and Donald Lougheed, Hon. ’54, founded the Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts in 2012, to bring the campus festival tradition back to Kathy’s alma mater.
North Country Public Radio is the media sponsor for the 2017 Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts at SUNY Potsdam.
To see the full jam-packed schedule of events, visit www.potsdam.edu/loko
To keep up with the latest, visit www.facebook.com/lokofestival
Arts & Culture