Students, sign up for HFC-24, a night-and-day arts collaboration
Student sign-up for HFC-24 The public event on Saturday is open to anyone; no sign-up required.
The HFC Fine Arts department will hold its third annual HFC-24 event from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 12, to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, in the MacKenzie Fine & Performing Arts Center (Building F on the main campus).
HFC-24, a 24-hour collaborative student arts project, includes all the Fine Arts programs and their faculty leaders at the College:
- Theatre, led by Dr. John-Michael Sefel (jsefel@hfcc.edu)
- Media communication arts, led by Susan McGraw (scmcgraw@hfcc.edu)
- Music, led by Anthony Lai (ajlai@hfcc.edu)
- Graphic design, led by Vicki Shepherd (vashepherd@hfcc.edu)
- Studio art, led by Steve Glazer (slgazer@hfcc.edu)
- Photography, led by Karen Larson-Voltz (kavoltz@hfcc.edu)
- Art history, led by Russell Jones (rmjones3@hfcc.edu)
“HFC-24 acts as a great kick-off to the year for all students!” said Sefel. “There are many benefits for students. So much of the college experience happens beyond the classroom. Because HFC isn’t a residential college, sometimes new students can struggle to make HFC their ‘home.’ College is about making connections, meeting people with different backgrounds and ideas. HFC-24 is designed to give students a perfect opportunity to meet others, share their ideas and perspectives, and build relationships that will last through their time at HFC and, hopefully, beyond! By holding it at the beginning of the year, we're helping students jumpstart their experience!”
New this year: HFC English instructor and SAGA faculty advisor Dr. Chelsea Lonsdale (calonsdale@hfcc.edu) will run a handmade “Zine” creation workshop.
“I’m really excited to offer zines as an option this year! This is my first HFC-24, but I’ve been collecting and making zines for a long time. I’ll bring my own personal zine library for students to browse for inspiration and examples,” said Lonsdale. “Zines are handmade magazines that can be about any topic! Some people make personal zines about their own experiences or opinions on issues, some make fanzines dedicated to a favorite TV show, some use zines to share their poetry or artwork. The options are endless. Zines are very much a DIY thing, a pushback against mainstream and corporate publishing, so being creatively resourceful with materials and addressing topics that matter to different communities is a big part of that. Students who want to make zines as part of HFC-24 will get to design, print, and then share or circulate their zines through a mini-‘zine-fest’ at the HFC-24 exhibition.”
All HFC students are warmly welcomed!
All HFC students, Henry Ford Early College students, and dual enrollment students, regardless of their major, are welcome to participate in HFC-24.
“If a student has at least one HFC class in any subject, they're welcome with open arms! We have three different College departments represented (MCA, Fine and Performing Arts, and English) and many programs within those departments, so interdisciplinary and ‘outside of the box’ is at the core of HFC-24. No matter their major, as long as they're an HFC student, we'd love to have them involved!” said Sefel. “Over the years, we've had quite a few students from departments across campus getting involved with the fun structure of HFC-24 as a gateway, only to then find themselves taking arts classes, performing in ensembles, films, or theatre productions, or generally just understanding how welcome they are within our arts community.”
Sefel pointed out that although HFC-24 lasts 24 hours, no student will actually work for the entire 24 hours.
“The kick-off celebration is Friday night, and then we all go home to get some sleep before a long day of creative work and problem-solving on Saturday,” he said. “Through Friday night's fun and then spending most of Saturday working together, the event allows students to get to know their peers, have fun, and make great connections.”
Added Glazer: “Last year, we saw students bonding beyond what often happens in the course of a normal class. Once the students got going, they were really into it! What some of them came up with was amazing!”
“Just go for it!”
On the evening of Friday, September 12, students participating in HFC-24 will gather for the opening festivities, where the guidelines and several artistic prompts will be announced. They will then have 24 hours to create original art (film, live and recorded music, photography, sculpture, painting, graphic design, and live theatre) based on these prompts. They will then present the results in a public performance/exhibition on Saturday, September 13, from 7:30 until 9:30 p.m.
“My favorite part of HFC-24 is collaborating with my colleagues across HFC's creative departments,” said McGraw. “This is a great opportunity for my students to network and for us all to deepen our understanding of each other's specialties, building a strong support system for future projects. The project parameters are challenging, exhausting, and tons of fun – I can't wait to do it again on September 12-13!”
HFC-24 also defuses the anxiety many students might have.
“The 24-hour nature of this event means that participants have to work past any perfectionist tendencies, and instead focus on making big, bold artistic decisions quickly. For a new student, learning to take creative risks and to avoid the pitfalls of perfectionism is a vital survival skill for college!” said Sefel. “HFC-24 provides the opportunity for students to just ‘go for it.’ It's an event that celebrates collaboration across disciplines and creation without perfectionism. I think opportunities like that can be hard to find. And I think it's just as special for the audience. Audiences are used to being handed a finished product, something that has been repeatedly polished and tweaked until it feels ‘perfect.’ HFC-24's audiences know from the second they walk in the door that all of the art they're about to take in didn't exist just 24 hours earlier!”
A lively and engaging experience with lasting results
What is now called HFC-24 started with the 2022 HFC-23 event. Organized by Sefel, HFC-23 brought students together to create new plays in collaboration with Detroit-based playwrights in just 23 hours. So, starting in 2023, the Fine Arts programs explored how students could work together to create exciting and interdisciplinary artwork, compositions, and performances in just 24 hours.
HFC-24 is designed to be a positive, supportive, artistically experimental event. While there is a 24-hour “clock,” faculty members will put their best efforts into ensuring that it remains a positive, non-competitive, healthy experience for students – with plenty of time to rest.
Doors open at 7:10 p.m. for the September 13 performance. Audience discretion is advised, as there might be some material that is not suitable for children.
While this performance is free and open to the public, cash donations will be collected and distributed to student-run clubs in Fine Arts. Donations of non-perishable food and personal hygiene items will be collected for the Hawks’ Nest, HFC’s food pantry for students.
“My proudest moments from HFC-24 usually come after the event is over!” said Sefel. “Getting students to make connections and collaborate in traditional classroom settings can be difficult, but I've now seen multiple instances in which students who participated in HFC-24 then carried that willingness to collaborate and work more closely with their peers, creating a lively and engaging classroom environment.”
For questions or more information about HFC-24, contact Sefel at jsefel@hfcc.edu.