PCAL hosts Spring Forward Festival to connect with students, Bowling Green
Grace Stephens, Video Producer
April 10, 2022
The Potter College of Arts and Letters hosted its Spring Forward Festival on Saturday, April 9 from 2-5 p.m. at Fountain Square Park.
The event featured a variety of activities, including an egg hunt, face painting, PCAL department tables, bunny photos and live performances. It was free and open to the public and offered a free t-shirt to the first 50 guests.
It also gave students and members of the community an opportunity to see what areas of study PCAL has to offer, as well as allowing the departments to intertwine and work with one another.
“I feel like the different departments don’t get to mingle during our normal days at WKU, we’re all so separate during day-to-day work,” Abby Bubnick, a sophomore musical theatre major, said. “We never really get the chance to meet people outside theatre and dance, and this gives us the opportunity to do that.”
Several departments and clubs hosted art-based activities to get guests involved with the arts programs offered in PCAL. One of these was a printmaking table, where students could watch prints be made and use handmade stamps to decorate their own paper.
“It’s really nice being able to expose people to printmaking, because a lot of students don’t realize it’s a possible major,” Samantha Cox, a sophomore BFA in printmaking major working at the table, said. “It’s a good place to show there’s more to this form of the arts.”
The event was organized by the PCAL Dean’s Council, who pitched the idea as a way to further the work of PCAL in involving WKU more in the Bowling Green community.
“This is a community centered event, and it’s a way to integrate WKU into Bowling Green,” Bridget Beavin, a junior political science and history major and member of the Dean’s Council, said. “We pitched to do something for spring, and we used what makes PCAL, PCAL–the arts, performances and showing all our departments. It got so much bigger than we ever imagined.”
Local businesses also played a part in the event through giveaways, and the event worked to give back to these businesses for what they have done for Bowling Green.
“We just really want to show Bowling Green that we appreciate it,” Maddie Miller, a sophomore music education major and member of the Dean’s Council, said. “We worked with local businesses in multiple ways, and we’re just saying thank you to Bowling Green from WKU. Hopefully we get the chance to do this every year, just to give back to the community.”
Terrance Brown, the dean of PCAL, is working to involve WKU and its students more within Bowling Green through events like this one.
“For so long, as a college and as an institution, we haven’t been super involved with our community,” Brown said. “There are so many things to celebrate here, and I think it’s so important that we connect with our community and work together for a better Bowling Green.”
News Reporter Alexandria Anderson can be reached at alexandria.anderson337@topper.wku.edu.
