SPS Humanities Fest 2022

On May 4, 2022, the NYU SPS community was treated to musicians, poetry, and visual arts at the 2022 Humanities Fest, an annual event organized by the Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies (DAUS) to celebrate the creativity of our students, faculty, and staff. The Fest also marked this year’s release of Dovetail, NYU SPS’s art and literary magazine. Under the guidance of DAUS adjunct instructor Simona Blat, the students in the Literary Magazine Production course edit, curate, and design the magazine, so that it comes out differently each time, reflecting students’ distinctive vision.

Dovetail 2022

This year's volume was the largest to date, a testament to the remarkable evolution of this publication.

After two years of holding the event remotely, we were finally able to come together and marvel at participants’ creative energy in person. Beautiful and unique works of art from our studio art and design courses lined the walls of the fifth floor student lounge, and readers from all different backgrounds with disparate stories and styles took to the podium to recite their works. Moreover, special performances by the impromptu group of musicians combined to produce unlikely instrumental pairings. DAUS adjunct faculty members Immanuel Wilkins and Ozan Aksoy, performing on saxophone and middle-eastern lute, respectively, joined with Michael Krieg from NYU Division of Libraries on flute and Kweku Sumbry on drum. They played a “composition in real time,” improvising their performance to develop and explore different soundscapes and organic melody.

Ozan Aksoy (lute), Michael Krieg (flute), Kweku Sumbry (drum), and 
Immanuel Wilkins (sax).

DAUS Clinical Associate Professor Clif Hubby, who leads in organizing this event, remarks that the Fest “provides a wonderful opportunity for students at SPS to share their extraordinary creative talents in an event that brings together the studio arts, creative writing, and live music. The event showcases the great range of talents and creative pursuits among SPS students and others who take our classes, and includes drawing, painting, photography, and multimedia collage work, along with story-telling and poetry. Students can experience their own creative works in a larger shared context beyond the classroom.”