Arts Festival
School of Arts & Letters
Arts Festival | March 24 – April 11
The Arts & Social Change
SOAL’s 2025 Arts Festival, The Arts & Social Change , will explore how the arts help shape and shift ideas about the world. The festival will celebrate unique voices in theater and performance, music, art, and literature and the impact of those voices on both culture and society. All festival events on the schedule below are free and open to the public.
CAUTION: "Any wild ideas and questionable opinions expressed here are entirely their own and should not be mistaken for the views of MGA, the USG, or any other sensible entity."
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March 24 – April 11 | Graffiti Board
Location: Macon Campus Library & Roberts Library, Cochran
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Come by the Library and check out the GRAFFITI BOARD! Join the conversation. Every week there is a new question. Your participate ion matters. Scan the QR code* at the Graffiti Board.
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March 24 – 30 | Flannery O’Connor Exhibit
Location: Macon Writing Center
Contact: Dr. Monica Miller
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Come check out Georgia writer Flannery O’Connor’s life and works.
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March 24 | MGA’s Commercial Combo
Time: 6 pm Location: SLC Amphitheater (Arts Complex Rehearsal Hall if rain) | Macon Contact: Dr. Sheree Keith
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Students enrolled in spring 2025’s commercial combo ensemble will perform a variety of songs they have prepared throughout the semester .
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March 25 | Michael Gillies Art Exhibition (through April 21) & Opening Ceremony
Time: 5-6 pm Location: Arts Complex Atrium | Macon Contact: Professor Luke Buffenmyer
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Middle Georgia State University Art Program Adjunct art professor Michael Gilles, an MFA graduate from L Louisiana State University , will exhibit his work .
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March 25 | Flannery Fest
Time: 11-1
Location: Macon Campus Library
Contact: Dr. Monica Miller
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Join the festivities and celebrate Middle Georgia author Flannery O’Connors life and works! The event features Dr. Melva Jones’ talk, “Flannery O'Connor and Lupus,” Flannery-themed games and snacks, Mr. Mark Ensley’s talk, “Photography of O'Connor's Fashion," and Flannery-themed crafts.
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March 25 | “Displaced Person” Discussion
Macon ESO in conjunction with Flannery Fest
Time: 2-3 pm
Location: TBD
Contact: Dr. Shane Trayers
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Morality, refugees ,peacocks, and murder! Join the Macon ESO, in conjunction with Flannery Fest, for a discussion of Flannery O’Connor’s famed novella.
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March 25 | “Displaced Person” Discussion
Cochran ESO in conjunction with Flannery Fest
Time: 5-6 pm
Location: Roberts Library 3 rd Floor Presentation Space | Cochran
Contact: Dr. M ary Christian
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Morality, refugees, peacocks, and murder! Join the Cochran ESO, in conjunction with Flannery Fest, for a discussion of Flannery O’Connor’s famed novella.
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March 25 – 27 | The Exonerated
Time: 7 pm
Location: Russell Hall Auditorium | Cochran
Contact: Professor John Iverson
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Based on the true experiences of six death - row inmates, dive into the lives of men and women wrongfully convicted and explore the ir tumult uous experience on death row and journey to freedom .
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March 26 | Graphic Novels & Social Change
Time: 3 pm
Location: Roberts Library, 3 rd Floor Presentation Space | Cochran
Contact: Dr. Lisa Bro
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From Maus to Bitch Planet to Destroyer and more, join Dr. Lisa Bro, Dr. Crystal O’Leary Davidson, and Dr. Tra cie Provost for a roundtable and open discussion of the ideas and issues that contemporary graphic novels explore.
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March 31 | Empty Bowl Open Studio
Time: 12-5
Location: Russell Hall 206 | Cochran
Contact: Professor Kimberly Riner
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The Empty Bowl Open Studio is a Service-Learning Project in cooperation with and to benefit the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank.
We will host an Open Studio Day in the Ceramic Studio where students, faculty and the community can come help us make bowls for this event that will occur in November 2025 during National Hunger and Homelessness Week. These bowls will be sold at this event with donated chili and soups as a fundraiser for the foodbank.
In 2023 21.8% of people in Macon-Bibb County were food insecure, including 9750 children.
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March 31 | Jackson Griffith
Time: 6 pm
Location: Russell Hall Auditorium | Cochran
Contact: Dr. Sheree Keith
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Drawing inspiration from musicians such as Otis Redding, Billy Joel, and the Lumineers, multi-talented singer, songwriter, and artist Jackson Griffith will delight with a performance of his original music. Griffith finds “ beauty in small moments, in the little stories,” and his songs "explore the human experience through my own stories.”
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April 1 | Student Juried Art Awards Ceremony
Time: 5 pm
Location: Arts Complex
Contact: Professor Luke Buffenmyer
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The annual awards ceremony for the best student artwork in each medium.
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April 3 | Jozee Moton
Time: 3:30 pm
Location: SLC Amphitheater (Arts Complex Rehearsal Hall if rain) | Macon
Contact: Dr. Sheree Keith
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Taking inspiration from such artists as Prince, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu, join Atlanta-based Jozee Moton for a captivating performance of original R&B and Soul music.
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April 3-5 | Elephant’s Graveyard
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Arts Complex Theatre | Macon
Contact: Professor Cindy Sams
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Elephant's Graveyard is the true tale of the tragic collision of a struggling circus and a tiny town in Tennessee, which resulted in the only known lynching of an elephant. Set in September of 1916, the play combines historical fact and legend, exploring the deep-seated American craving for spectacle, violence and revenge.
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April 7-11 | Student Juried Art Exhibition
Location: Russell Hall Peacock Gallery | Cochran
Contact: Professor Charlie Agnew
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A showcase of MGA’s most talented artists and their incredible artwork up for “Best of” awards in their mediums.
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April 7 | The Role of Arts in Social Change
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Macon Campus Library
Contact: Dr. Yookyoung Choi
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MGA faculty members Dr. Yookyoung Choi, Professor Terry Reckart, and Professor Talyor LoForti will give talks on how arts can impact on social change, followed by an open discussion
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April 8 | Nazi Plunder: Art & the Holocaust
Time: 3 pm
Location: Roberts Library, 3 rd Floor Presentation Space | Cochran
Contact: Dr. Lisa Bro
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Join Dr. Tracie Provost as she discusses how the Nazis plundered art from Europe’s Jewish community and what happened to it.
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April 9 | Empty Bowl Open Studio
Time: 12-4
Location: Arts Complex Atrium | Macon
Contact: Professor Kimberly Riner
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At this event students , faculty and community can come to the Macon MGA Campus to help us glaze the bowls for the Empty Bowl event that will occur in November 2025 during National Hunger and Homelessness Week. These bowls will be sold at this event with donated chili and soups as a fundraiser for the foodbank.
In 2023 21.8% of people in Macon-Bibb County were food insecure, including 9750 children.
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April 9 | Ghost Town: The Hebron Story
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Arts Complex
Contact: Professor Luke Buffenmyer
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Ghost Town is an alarming and stark examination of reality in being imprisoned in one’s own homeland! ~ Malcolm L. Rigsby
Ghost Town the Hebron Story, a film by Ellie Bernstein is narrated by Martin Sheen. The film lays out a factually objective history of the land of Palestine. This documentary film provides us with the effects of the creation of the state of Israel and the occupation of the region leading to the demise of the Palestinian people. Bernstein’s film provides a deeply meaningful experience for the viewer. She brings into context the struggles of Palestine and Israel as she explores personal accounts, third party perspectives, as well as individuals and private organizations who are attempting to bring about change.
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April 10 | Monster, She Wrote and Toil and Trouble with Melanie Anderson and Lisa Kröger
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Location: Microsoft Teams | Click to Join
Contacts: Dr. Susan Asbury & Dr. LaRonda Sanders-Senu
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As a part of this year’s Student Interdisciplinary Conference focusing on Pop Cu lture & the American South, a authors Melanie Anderson and Lisa Kröger will talk about their works Monster, She Wrote and Toil and Trouble and the interdisciplinary scholarship that informs their works.
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April 10 | “The Power of Illusion: Drag and Gender Performativity”
Time: 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Location: Arts Complex Theater
Contact: Dr. Billy Wooten
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Join Dr. Billy Wooten for a talk and discussion about drag performance and its social relevance e
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April 10 | ARTivism: Drag for Social Change
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Arts Complex Theater
Contacts: Professors Terri Reckart & Shannon Riddle
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Our mission statement is to celebrate the power of performance as a catalyst for social change, using drag artistry to challenge norms, amplify diverse voices, and inspire a more inclusive and equitable world. Through this show, we aim to ignite conversations, foster understanding, and empower individuals to embrace their true selves while advocating for a brighter, more accepting, and promising future.
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April 11| Dan Fraga - Iron Bar: Stay Valuable
Time: 11:30 am
Location: Arts Complex Theatre | Macon
Contacts: Dr. Susan Asbury & Dr. LaRonda Sanders-Senu
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The Student Interdisciplinary Conference presents Plenary Speaker Dan Fraga. Fraga is a comic book artist and writer who’s worked on such titles as Spider-Man , Wolverine , Bloodstrike , Black Flag , Black Panther, the web comic The Grave , and currently DC Comics Doom Patrol .
Fraga has also worked as a storyboard artist on various productions, such as commercials for Hershey's, Victoria's Secret and music videos for Justin Timberlake, Usher, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé . In conjunction with his work as a storyboard artist, Fraga worked on set design, visual effects supervision, and 2nd unit directing. Fraga also directed television, including the second and third seasons of HBO’s The Ricky Gervais Show .
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Check back soon for information about the 2025 Arts Festival!