SPARK! introduces students to art in all forms
Visions and Voices kicked off this semester’s programming with a high-energy festival in McCarthy Quad.
By ALIA YEE NOLL
Arts and humanities collective Visions and Voices welcomed students back to campus with a bang at its 18th Annual SPARK! Kickoff and Arts Fest at McCarthy Quad Thursday night. Emceed by Los Angeles Emmy award-winning actor and comedian Joe Hernandez-Kolski, SPARK!’s impressive lineup of performances, programming and free food gave students a night to remember full of creative expression and excitement.
Lindsey Gross, a graduate student studying music industry and a Visions and Voices volunteer, tabled for SPARK!, introducing students to the organization’s diverse programming opportunities.
“The point of Vision and Voices is to have USC students be exposed to art and culture while they’re experiencing L.A.,” Gross said. “When they are looking at events, it’s always looking very holistically and trying to bring every single different type of ‘vision and voice’ to the campus just so students can experience everything that they have to offer.”
Award-winning spoken word poet Javon Johnson opened the night with powerful musings on the intersectionality of race and gender, grounding the event in its goals of equity and inclusion. Spirits were high as students eagerly awaited musical guest Hailey Wild.
Wild, a senior majoring in popular music performance, kept the crowd engaged with an electrifying set, lighting up the evening with a blend of ’80s rock hits like Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle” and original acoustic rock songs, such as “Ride or Die” and “Eden.” Wild brought an all-Thornton School of Music band to SPARK! composed of Romel Veal Jr., Manuel Martinez, Angelina Petticord, Daniel Flores and Max Bleefeld. As the band gave its all onstage, the crowd matched its energy, head-banging and moshing during Wild’s unreleased tracks “Wake Up” and “Friday Nights.”
At the end of Wild’s set, Hernandez-Kolski led the crowd in two more deafening rounds of applause for Wild and her band before asking her to give the incoming class of 2027 some advice.
“Just have fun. I took myself too seriously the first year,” Wild said. “Go out there, meet people, make friends. They’re not going to bite.”
Achinta McDaniel, a professor of Bollywood dance and composition, kept the energy high by leading students in a Bollywood dance-off. Atticus Dobbie and Hayden Rivas, both seniors majoring in dance, split the growing crowd down the middle to create two teams to the steps, and students brought their best friendly competition, cheering and booing for their respective sides.
Artist and spiritual psychologist Claudia Concha gave students the opportunity to collectively paint about their intentions for the upcoming year. (Alia Yee Noll / Daily Trojan)
Student drag queens Rae Oblivion, Ella Mayo and Willconique kept students on their toes with individual lip-sync performances, working the crowd and flirting with the cameras to a medley of quintessential pop tracks like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” Jessie Ware’s “What’s Your Pleasure?” and Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive.” Their performances culminated in an iconic group lip-sync to “Rain On Me” by Lady Gaga featuring Ariana Grande. The crowd went wild as all three queens death-dropped simultaneously.
Visions and Voices also gave students a taste of L.A.’s small business scene, providing paletas and ice cream catered by Herach & Ara, mini donuts from Dazzling Donuts and kettle corn from Manna Kettle Korn. Lines snaked around McCarthy Quad as students lined up for a sweet treat between performances.
Throughout the night, abstract impressionist artist Claudia Concha invited students to paint on white tarps, prompting them to “paint your intentions for the school year.” Concha, who has led smaller workshops for USC students in the past, roots her art practices in spiritual psychology and healing.
“The outer reality is a projection of the inner reality,” Concha said. “[The collective painting] is about going back to that and listening to ourselves and finding what is going on inside so we can see the world from our own eyes … [Art] is an outlet for everything, for life.”
Whether they were interested in collective painting, Bollywood dancing or exploring the intersection between advocacy and art, SPARK! gave students an in-depth look into the many ways USC fosters a collaborative, artistic community.
“I just love that all these new students see that the arts and humanities are part of their education and experience,” said Martin Wong, Visions and Voices’ marketing administrator. “When I was a student, I went to class and I had brilliant professors, but I remember every single concert I went to, every single author that came made an impression on me, every single film I went to where they had the filmmakers there: those made a big difference … We all need the arts to inspire us.”
