Windhover, the University’s literary and art magazine, showcased various types of talent during their second open mic night of the year.
The event began with food and patch-painting table for attendees to get involved in the evening artistically. It then continued with the 16 performances from students, faculty and alumni sharing their creative talent; there were both solo and group performances covering a wide range of artistic expression such as poetry, short story readings and musical performances.
“There’s such a wide variety of things to do,” Jaimie Harwood, senior in English education, said.
Past editions of Windhover were available to look through and see how the publication has changed through the years. The most recent edition was available, as well as information about contributing to the upcoming edition. A critique sheet was available allowing for feedback on different components of the book, as well as a section for new ideas for future publications.
“The quality of the book was good,” Jonathan Weeks, junior in human biology, said, “More well produced than I assumed.”
The patch-painting table was popular with attendees and seemed to be a hotspot of activity. Small squares of cloth pre-stenciled with designs from Windhover were available for people to paint.
“It’s a really cool addition, people said it was one of the reasons they came,” Alanna Howard, editor-in-chief of Windhover , said
The patches were added to the event in order to give attendees the opportunity to participate in a hands-on way.
”We wanted a way for everyone to participate,” Chelsea Amato , design editor and a senior in graphic design, said.
According to Amato , the designs were based off of Greek myths and signified different forms of art. The bee, a symbol of the foundation of society, was also incorporated into the designs.
The performances started around 7:00 p.m . and continued for well over an hour. The night consisted of mostly poetry and musical performances with a couple of short story readings. Each performance lasted roughly five minutes. While most of the performers were current students, several of them were returning alumni.
For the piano and vocal duo, Michael Valeri , sophomore in chemical engineering and Danielle Souder , sophomore in industrial design, this event was a chance for them to showcase their talents with fellow students.
“It’s really cool that there are events like this on campus, we never had an avenue to share our music before,” Souder said.
There were performers from various colleges within the University, highlighting the diversity of the event.
“Events like this are great for the school,” David Delgado, senior in science education, said.
There were also two acts by international students, both of which were musical performances. Muntazar Monsur , a student from Bangladesh, performed a love song he played on guitar and sang in Bengali, the language of his home country.
The other international act was singer and guitar duo Cynthia Noury , senior in communication and Danny Riordan, junior in math. Noury is from Montréal Canada and Riordan from Ireland. The pair performed a Canadian song that had topped the charts in previous years.
“It’s really nice to see the artsy side of State,” Riordan said.
The last open mic night in September was held in the Craft Center and lasted for much longer than the allotted time. This event experienced slight delay due to technical difficulty and traffic from the homecoming parade but aside from that went smoothly.
According to Kelley Rathod , a graphic designer who works for Windhover , both the turnout and audience participation were up from previous mic nights.
“It’s a good way to get people to express themselves,” Rathod said.
Past performers and attendees of Windhover open mic nights agree. Tim Reavis , senior in psychology, has performed his poetry at multiple Windhover events in the past.
“I really liked the feel of this one,” Reavis said, “I’m in class with some of these guys or have seen them perform and it’s awesome to see the progress in their work.”
