Celebrating its ninth anniversary,
the Arts X is expanding its "Wonderland" of arts activities.The annual celebration of the arts
Friday at Bowling Green State University always finds a new twist to add to its staple offerings of student
art sales, exhibits, demonstrations and performances.This year students will have an especially large canvas
to display their work on – the southern wall of the Wolfe Center for the Arts.Students films and 3-D
animations will be projected on the 250 feet expanse of the art center, turning it into the largest screen
in Ohio.And, for the first time, activities will spread to the College of Music. A Holiday Extravaganza
concert with a cast of hundreds will be presented at 7 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. ArtsX activities will be 6 to
10 p.m. in the School of Art and the Wolfe Center.All events except for the concert, which is part of the
Festival Series, are free.Dennis Wojkiewicz said the now sprawling event was just what he had in mind when
he initiated the idea back in 2004. He was inspired by an event in Minneapolis. But that first year the
ArtsX amounted to mostly bringing together the different student art club sales with some demonstrations.Now
it spreads across three buildings, including the Wolfe Center which opened in 2011, and celebrates "the
whole idea of an arts campus," the professor of painting said.Over the years more programs have gotten
involved. The faculty show opens that night, and the students projecting their work on the Wolfe Center wall
will have smaller work on display in the Wankleman Gallery."ArtsX is one time of the year when all the
arts come together," said Katerina Ray, director of the School of Art.Music Professor William Mathis,
who is coordinating the concert, said the idea for the holiday concert was suggested by President Mary Ellen
Mazey. The idea was "to involve as many groups as we can" while remaining "mindful that as a
pops holiday concert it has a real flow to it."Everyone involved contributed suggestions, he said.
Susan Hoekstra, director of public events for the College of Musical Arts, suggested Franz Joseph Haydn’s
"Toy Symphony," which will feature special guest appearances, including "Buzz Lightyear"
conducting the Bowling Green Philharmonia.The concert will open with the Wind Symphony Brass. (Some
performers will have to scoot off after opening the concert in order to appear in the halftime show for the
MAC Championship game in Detroit.) It will close with the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s
"Messiah" with the massed forces of the orchestra Collegiate Chorale and University Choral
Society."Rejoice" from "Messiah" will be one of several works performed by guest artist
Kisma Jordan.Mathis said the organizers decided to bring back the soprano, a rising star in vocal music, as
guest soloist. Jordan received her masters in vocal performance from BGSU."We knew she was going to be
a star" even when she was a student, Mathis said.Other performers include: the musical theater ensemble
Heart and Music, the Jazz Lab Band I, Prestige Barbershop Quartet, performers from the Dance Program, and
Laura Boulton reading her own and others’ poems.The class that created "Cinema Optique" is the
latest to create something to offer at ArtsX.The class on architectural projection mapping brought together
film students from the Department of Theatre and Film, and digital art and animation students from the
School of Art.Under the tutelage of faculty Heather Elliott-Famularo and Thomas Castillo, they created about
40 minutes of film that will be looped throughout the event. Those images will tie the center up in chains,
transform the wall into a melting iceberg or a forest and dance with abstract three-dimensional
figures.Elliott-Famularo said such large projections have been done around the world in big cities. Now
Northwest Ohio residents will get to experience the spectacle in their own backyard.ArtsX offers "such
a great opportunity" for students to share their work, she said. "It’s a big crowd."The size
of the audience is something new for students, Castillo said. "We really had to make it clear to
students that a lot of people are going to see their work. It’s a lot of pressure but without that they
wouldn’t try it."Ray said "Cinema Optique" is "an experiment… that’s what’s great
about ArtsX."