Upcoming: Carnival ah!, Austin Community College, Rio Grande Campus, April 11 - 12

Celebrate Arts in Austin with

ACC’s Carnival ah!

Wednesday, April 11 & Thursday, April 12

Festival includes arts, dance, drama, and more

April 11 & 12, Rio Grande Campus, 1212 Rio Grande (click for map)

The Austin Community College District’s Arts and Humanities Division invites the community to celebrate the arts at the fourth annual Carnival ah!, a festival featuring live performances, art installations, film screenings, dance classes, and more.

Carnival ah! 2012 takes place Wednesday, April 11, and Thursday, April 12, at ACC’s Rio Grande Campus (1212 Rio Grande St.) in downtown Austin. This year’s theme – “How did you get here?” – explores the cultural heritage of the college and Central Texas.

“Carnival ah! will give participants a better appreciation of ourselves, our history, and how the arts and humanities express and define personal as well as community identity,” says Lyman Grant, dean of arts and humanities.

Arts and Humanities is partnering with ACC’s Center for Public Policy and Political Studies to highlight the immigrant experience and the courage and determination it takes to become a U.S citizen. Attendees will experience interactive art displays, panel discussions, readings of personal stories, international music, bands, dance performances, a student art sale, and international foods.

Activities run 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. Highlights include:

• Migration map project (April 11 & 12, 10 a.m. – noon): Librarians will help attendees trace their family migration paths using Google Maps.
• Student-produced documentary film on the 2011 Bastrop wildfire (April 11, 6-7 p.m.): Four ACC students and members of Phi Theta Kappa honor society created a documentary short entitled “2½ Hours That Changed Bastrop.” A Q&A session with the filmmakers follows the screening.
• Night of Stories (April 11, 7:30-9 p.m.): This event showcases a reading by Nick Flynn, an award-winning author whose first book is now a film starring Robert De Niro (“Being Flynn”). Students in the Free Minds Project will present their work earlier in the evening.
• Billy Eli Band (April 12, 4:45-5:45 p.m.): Enjoy melodic songs with a honky-tonk twang from Billy Eli, an Austin-based singer-songwriter in the roots-rock tradition.
• ACC Jazz Band (April 12, 7-8:30): The college’s renowned jazz band takes the stage.
• International showcase (April 12, 7-10 p.m.): The outdoor showcase features music, dance, theater, and food from around the world.
• Interactive map (continuous display): This world map includes QR codes for smartphone users to view videotaped interviews with international students, faculty, and staff.

Other Carnival ah! participants include the Theater Action Project, the Austin Asian American Arts Collective, the Asian American Cultural Center, ACC’s Men of Distinction, the George Washington Carver Museum, Host Publications, the Silver Star Children’s Literacy Project, and the McCallum High School Classical Guitar Ensemble.

For the complete Carnival ah! schedule and more information, visit austincc.edu/carnival.