Campus Life

What will you create?

For a second year, the University of Florida and the surrounding community will celebrate creativity with 352Creates. The two-day event March 24-25 invites everyone in the 352 area code to participate in pop-up art activities to promote healthy communities through creativity.

“This is a great way of encouraging everyone to learn about and become involved in the arts, helping to ensure that our university community continues to blossom as a place with rich and diverse educational and cultural opportunities,” said UF President Kent Fuchs.

On March 24, participants will “create in place,” making art wherever they are. 352Creates invites cultural groups, artists, community agencies, businesses and individuals to get creative. UF Health will host several free events on the Archer Road campus for faculty, staff, students, patients and visitors, including a mural project at noon in the UF Health Shands Hospital Atrium where participants will help design and color sections of a mural that will be installed later on campus. 

The following day, March 25, focuses on creating in the community, with a public event at Depot Park that features performances from UF hip hop dancers, improv comedians and a cappella singers, as well as a children’s imagination station presented by art education students. 

Depot Park is one of five community installations of the Before I Die Wall, a public art project where participants reflect on life, death and their personal aspirations. The project, one of more than 2,000 such walls in 70-plus countries, will also promote awareness of advance directives, which allow people to provide instructions for end-of-life health-care decisions.

Individuals or groups are invited to host free creative activities that are open to the public, regardless of creative experience or skill. The activities can include hands-on art-making, performance (such as music, song, dance, theatre, spoken word), culinary arts, gardening and contemplative arts (including mindful meditation, yoga, tai chi and qigong).

For information on how to participate, visit the 352Creates website or find 352Creates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. All events will be promoted with the hashtag #352Creates.

Presenting partners for 352Creates include UF Health, UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine, Arts in Medicine Programs at UF and the City of Gainesville.

UF News Author
March 13, 2017