Pablo Picasso said, "Art is a lie that makes you realize the truth." Celebrating this idea, ArtsFest focused on the topic "Art & Truth?" for its 10-year anniversary.
ArtsFest coordinator Anne Harris, a professor of art and art history and director of the women's studies department, says the goal of ArtsFest is "to present something to the community, with the community and by the community, that is a specific issue. This year is ‘Art & Truth?' with a question mark, just to keep it interesting."
This theme of "Art & Truth?" turned into a community effort that reached far beyond the stereotypical idea of art, incorporating studio art, performance, ethics, science, literature, music and more.
This year's 10-day festival involved a wide range of groups and departments such as the chemistry and biochemistry department, the Office of Spiritual Life, the Association of African American Students and the School of Music.
This year's ArtsFest aimed to combine unexpected subjects such as art and science.
"The people I've been speaking to at events have been like, ‘Wow, that's totally new. I've never thought of it that way.' And that's enough for me, she said. "The people I've talked to have been moved by what they've seen."
Harris said she was encouraged by the community's openness "to go ahead and think about science and sculpture in the same breath and see where the possibilities go."
Freshman Timothy Zaletel agrees with Harris.
Zaletel, who plans to be a chemistry or biochemistry major, attended Wednesday's discussion "Julian Voss-Andreae: Art & Science," which focused on Voss-Andreae's sculptures based on protein structures and quantum physics.
"How [Voss-Andreae] manipulated the structures to make them visually appealing and turn them into an art piece was really interesting," Zaletel said. "I've never seen them as an art form. I've just seen pictures of models in textbooks."
For the festival, Voss-Andreae, professor of chemistry and biochemistry Daniel G. Gurnon, professor of art Jacob K. Stanley and 10 DePauw students teamed up to create sculptural representations of protein structures, which will be on display in Julian Science and Mathematics Center.
Other community projects include the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project, also on display in Julian, which teaches community members about hyperbolic planes and the environment's impact on coral reefs, while concurrently improving their crocheting skills.
Visiting balloon artist Larry Moss shared the concept of "airigami" on a Tuesday workshop. The workshop's finished balloon sculpture has made its home in the lobby of the Peeler Art Center.
The remaining days of ArtsFest will feature multiple musical and theatrical performances, along with a Buddhist mandala created by visiting monks. Thursday's opening ceremony in the Hub for the Buddhist mandala featured stoic chants and music to consecrate the site. The artwork is created with colored sand using a slow, meticulous process.
The monks patiently spread the sand by rubbing a metal rod across a traditional metal funnel. The resulting vibration poured out the sand.
The mandala's stay at DePauw will end at 4 p.m. on Monday when the sand will be dispersed into the water in the quarry in the Nature Park, giving it back to the planet.
Harris hopes the community will continue to apply what they are learning at ArtFest.
"In the crazy time of paper writing and project fulfillment and all this academic stuff that's going on, really all those academic things are there to think outside the academic box and to problem solve or problem create things that are beyond our disciplines," Harris said. "What happens when we think beyond disciplines? What happens when we let science influence art and art influence science? The short answer is wonder, deeper understanding, and other ways to solve the problem whether they are scientific or social."
