Fine arts departments offering an evening of events April 26

Rodman Arts Celebration, an evening event featuring all areas of the fine arts at Ripon College, will be held Friday, April 26, in C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts. All events are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

• 6 p.m.: A reading by Wisconsin’s Own Library poet-in-residence Sonya Lara in Caestecker Gallery.

  Lara is a biracial Mexican American writer. She received her BA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MFA in Poetry from Virginia Tech. She is the current Wisconsin’s Own Library Poet-in-Residence Fellow and a recipient of the Studios Fellowship through The Studios at MASS MoCA.

 
• 6:30 p.m.: Opening reception in Caestecker Gallery for senior art show exhibition “JaiMir,” presented by Alexciana Betancourt ’24 of Chicago Heights, Illinois. The exhibit will run through May 11.
 
• 7 p.m.: One-act play, “Ties that Bind and Break,” in Benstead Theatre. Written and directed by Pierce Reese-Grimm ’24 of Wautoma, Wisconsin, the play tells a surreal story about two sisters surviving supernatural events in their haunted family home.
 
• 7:30 p.m.: Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo concert, featuring guest saxophonist Tom Washatka, in Demmer Recital Hall. Also featured will be vocalist Lucie Hodgkins ’25 of Winneconne, Wisconsin.

  Washatka is a veteran of the Fox Cities jazz scene and has been one of the area’s most respected performers for many years. He can be heard regularly with pianist John Harmon; his wife, Janet Planet; and his quartet, DADDIO.

  Selections include works by Neal Hefti, Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones, Patricia Darling, Fred Sturm, Maria Schneider, David Springfield, Robert Glasper and Miles Davis, as well as work by director Paul Dietrich, adjunct instructor of music.

  (Photo, clockwise from top left: Alexciana Betancourt ’24, Pierce Reese-Grimm ’24, Sonya Lara and Tom Washatka)