Arts at Noon: Marlen Vavrikova, Oboe

Oboe player Malen Vavrikova will be performing at noon on Feb. 24 in the Cook-DeWitt Center. The performance will last an hour.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/music or call (616) 331-3484.

Visiting Writers Series: Ruben Martinez

As part of the Grand Valley State University Visiting Writers Series, Emmy-award winning journalist, Ruben Martinez will be giving a lecture entitled “Browning Heartland: Trans-national Communities and Imagination” at 11 a.m. on Feb. 24 in the Grand River Room in the Kirkhof Center.

Ruben Martinez will discuss how a border ethos – and not just Taco Bell – has arrived in America, in the form of Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Mexicans and representation of Latinos in art, among other things.

The event is LIB 100/201 approved. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Area Studies at (616) 331-8110 or [email protected].

New Music Ensemble student composition competition

On Feb. 25, the annual New Music Ensemble student composition competition will take place at the Grand Valley State University Performing Arts Center.

The event will begin at 7:30 p.m., where GVSU student composers create 60-second pieces in response to the art gallery show titled “Great Lakes: Image & Word.”

The audience favorite will win a prize, while judges choose three winners for cash prizes. For more information, call (616) 331-3484 or visit www.gvsu.edu/artgallery.

Benefit concert in Flint sponsored by GV group

The Voices of Grand Valley State University will sponsor a concert in Flint, Michigan to uplift the spirits of residents impacted by the water crisis. Donations will be collected to be distributed in the community.

On Feb. 27, “Living Water” is set at 6 p.m. at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The church is located at 2109 Martin Luther King Ave. in Flint. The concert is free to attend, however donations are encouraged.

The community can drop off donations of water, hand sanitizer, wet wipes and other supplies to the Women’s Center in the Kirkhof Center. The supplies will go directly to the church to distribute.

For more information, contact Cassonya Carter at [email protected].