InspirED Kick-Off Festival celebrates arts education


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Undergraduate Student Government Program Board’s Academic Culture Assembly hosted InspirED: EdMonth Kick-Off Festival Monday, an arts festival with the goal of highlighting the importance of art and other underappreciated subjects in education. On a February afternoon in McCarthy Quad, students from both USC and the greater Los Angeles area were invited to the event to celebrate the arts with the main goal of bridging theses two communities.

InspirED is a part of EdMonth, which is a student-led program and campaign devoted to raising awareness about the state of education in our country, hosting a wide variety of events throughout March that promotes  educational exploration, providing students with the tools necessary to contribute to educational justice.

“This event is incredibly meaningful to me because it starts off EdMonth by prioritizing underappreciated and often-silenced topics in education, which is something I focused on as director for the entire month,” said EdMonth Director and Academic Culture Assembly Assistant Director Luis Vidalon-Suzuki.

Walking into McCarthy Quad, students were given a sheet of paper for signatures, so that if they visited three tables at the festival, they could receive a free Coolhaus ice cream sandwich, courtesy of the Coolhaus truck onsite. Likewise, the event also featured a series of chalkboards, where attendees could write answers to the question, “What was missing in your education?” in response to the fact that art is consistently one of the first programs to be cut in the public school system due to lack of funding and support. Organizations that tabled at the festival included the USC Helenes, Program Board, Special Events Committee, the Young Storytellers Foundation, 826LA, Ryman Arts and Piece by Piece.

“From my experience, art heals everything,” said Betty Rosen Ziff, a Piece by Piece art instructor that attended the event.

Piece by Piece is a non-profit organization in South L.A. that holds free art classes and workshops to the homeless and economically disadvantaged. The goal of the organization is to bring the arts to those who lack the money or education to experience them and instill confidence. They create the art using recycled materials and aim to improve the lives of these individuals with their philantrophy.

The InspirED festival brought forth and raised awareness for issues on education and the role that the arts play. The festival served as a way to celebrate an under-appreciated course of study at USC.