To help accommodate the onset of the dreary autumn weather, the Grand Valley State University Art Gallery has a number of events lined up to help students cope with the changing of seasons.

The 2014 Fall Arts Celebration will supply GVSU students with a series of six monthly installments ranging from music, art, dance and poetry. Festivities begin Sept. 15 with a musical tribute to John Philip Sousa.

The performance will take place Sept. 15 at the Louis Armstrong Theater, Performing Arts Center on the Allendale campus at 7:30 p.m.

The event is organized by an array of GVSU faculty and staff across many disciplines, including Department of Music and Dance Chair Danny Phipps, who has played an important role in attracting talent for the Fall Arts Celebration.

“The performing arts, which have a vibrant and balanced presence on our campus, continually add unique qualities and singular viewpoints to the Laker experience,” Phipps said in a 2013 interview for last year’s event.

The Fall Arts Celebration is an annual event held by the university to showcase local and national talent.

“It has always been a long standing Grand Valley tradition,” said Art Gallery Program Coordinator Stacey Tvedten. “I’m looking forward to them all.”

On Aug. 22, the Art Gallery began hosting the art collection of the Stuart and Barbara Padnos Foundation Collection. A reception will be held for the exhibit Sept. 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The collection joins selected works by noted international artists such as Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Joan Miro and Paul-Emile Pissarro. These works were donated to GVSU in 2013.

Peabody Award-winning NPR host Scott Simon will lecture on the challenges of journalism, democracy and personal sanity in news consumption on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Eberhard Center on the Pew Campus. The lecture will be followed by a book signing and reception.

Poets Mark Doty and Dorianne Laux will be hosted on Oct. 16 in the Eberhard Center at 7 p.m. The critically acclaimed poets will read from their works at this year’s poetry night, and will be available at a reception and book signing.

In the Louis Armstrong Performing Arts Center on Oct. 27, students will have the opportunity to see a performance by Gallim Dance, a dance company based out of New York City. The performance will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.

Festivities conclude Dec. 8 with a choral and symphonic concert at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids.

For more information on upcoming events, visit the Fall Arts Celebration website at www.gvsu.edu/fallarts.

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