Students took to the stage Tuesday Feb. 21, showcasing California State University, Stanislaus’s wide array of artistic talent for the second annual Festival of the Arts, put on by Associated Students, Inc.
The night, part of ASI’s celebration for homecoming week, featured dramatic performances, musical improvisation, dances of different styles and genres, and even art which is not typically performed such as painting on display and poetry recital. The number of performances made for a long evening which made it easy for students to come at their own convenience, cheering on act after act.
“It was fun and entertaining! I liked the theatre performances best, and there was never a dull moment,” Claudia Godinez (sophomore, Spanish) said.
Cullen Vance (junior, Theatre), the executive producer and the one to start this annual event, had last year’s event as a template to work with this year and still has great hopes for the festival’s future.
“Following off from last year, there was a lot of experimenting with what to keep and what to change. There were a lot of people dropping out at the last second, and people coming up and filling in. We hope if this continues, though, we can make it a week-long festival in the future” Vance said.
Even the artists enjoyed themselves, getting a chance to have fun with their work in front of others. 
“It was stressful because we only had two weeks to practice, but once we performed it was awesome. It was fun because I love dancing,” Marilú Bonilla (junior, Liberal Studies) said. 
Bonilla was part of a group of dancers who wowed the audience and had them cheering for more. 
The whole event gave artists on campus a chance to get the school and community excited about what they do, allowing students and members of the community to see art in a new and exciting light. 
“I’ve never performed before,” Hannah Noonan (junior, Art/Math) said. “It was really exciting seeing all the campus get together and get excited about what we’re doing.” 
Noonan was part of a trio of artist’s coming together to perform improvisational painting along to high energy music. 
As budget cuts continue to affect the CSU Stanislaus community it is easy to forget about the Arts, but this event managed to convey why people should be getting excited about Drama, Art, and Music. `
“It’s about getting people over here and getting them into one room and showing them the variety and impact of art,” Vance said.