The College of the Arts at Valdosta State University will present Pink Showcase: Celebrating Cancer Survivors Through the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Whitehead Auditorium. Admission is free of charge and open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, retirees, and friends of the university.
 
Inspired by two Department of Music faculty members who were diagnosed with breast cancer, VSU first presented this celebration of life on Oct. 23, 2014. This year marks the second presentation of this event.
 
Pink Showcase: Celebrating Cancer Survivors Through the Arts will feature musical performances by the VSU Jazz Ensemble, St. John’s Catholic Church Youth Choir, South Georgia Tuba Quartet, VSU Percussion Ensemble, VSU Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, Azalea Jazz Quartet, Sine Nomine Singers, and more. Some of these performances will feature original choreography by VSU Theatre and Dance faculty and original paintings, drawings, and photography by VSU Department of Art and Design faculty.
 
Guest speakers include Brian Sayre, director of Pastoral Care at South Georgia Medical Center; Rebecca Smith, associate director of VSU’s Counseling Center; and Dr. Sheri Noviello, dean of VSU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.   
 
“I think celebrating cancer survival through music, art, and dance is terrific,” shared Dr. Carol Mikkelsen, professor emerita of music and adjunct professor of voice at VSU who was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer a decade or so ago. She will perform Richard Pearson Thomas’s “I Finally Cried About My Haircut Today.”
 
“The arts allow us to express our emotions, both joyful and fearful. I am very pleased to be a cancer survivor and a part of the celebration of cancer survival.”
 
Whitehead Auditorium is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building at the intersection of Oak Street and Brookwood Drive. Attendees are encouraged to wear pink.  
 
Call the College of the Arts Outreach Office at (229) 333-2150 to learn more.