Theatre, Art, Music, Storytelling & Fun for All Ages: LoKo Arts Festival Returns to SUNY Potsdam

The festival will open with a performance, masterclass and tell-all Q&A with Stacey Kay, the “America’s Got Talent” finalist and Juno Award winner, on Friday, April 22. Stacey Kay and her three-piece band/backup singer will perform Top 40, pop, soul and rap hits. Between songs, she will share her take on everything from wild celebrity encounters to positive body image to leave audience members feeling pumped up and confident. She and her sister/backup singer Kayla are also successful podcasters, with their series, “I Have to Call My Sister.” They will take the stage following Stacey’s masterclass for a no-holds-barred conversation, ahead of their big concert on Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater. 

Filmprov, a new collaborative concert series, will mix old and new with an exploration of the cinema of avante garde filmmaker Germaine Dulac (creator of the first surrealist film) with a live, original improvised soundtrack to a screening of her silent films. The unique cinematic and musical experience will be presented in the Performing Arts Center’s Black Box Theater on Monday, April 25 at 8 p.m. 

Additional visiting LoKo artists include renowned night vision photographer Chris Faust, the master ceramist Simon van der Ven ’82, Linklater voice teacher Paul Ricciardi, the award-winning children’s author and illustrator Yangsook Choi, and novelist Sara Cantwell ’14 & ’16. 

The fan-favorite event, the Festival of Lights, will be bigger and more extravagant than ever this year, with a large display of original illuminated sculptures created by SUNY Potsdam student artists, accompanied by live music and dance performances beginning at sunset. The Festival of Lights will take over the Academic Quad with unique sculptures, music by the Giroux Honors Jazz Combo and a nighttime performance by the SUNY Potsdam Dance Ensemble. The event will take place from dusk to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27 (with a rain date of April 28). 

Squonk Opera will bring its completely original blend of boisterous outdoor spectacle to the Academic Quad on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30. Squonk will bring its touring performance of “Hand to Hand” to Potsdam, featuring fantastical visual design, playful staging, high-energy original music and lots of audience participation. The “Hand to Hand” performances will be offered on Friday, April 29 at 3:30 p.m., and on Saturday, April 30 at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. 

Art on the Quad will expand on the Squonk Opera fun taking over the Academic Quad on Saturday, April 30. Immerse yourself with creativity, with performances by campus a cappella groups, carnival-style food, outdoor painting, free arts and crafts projects, a special sustainable art piece from the Environmental Club, and more. The family-friendly event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Families are cordially invited to “Toad Hall,” a celebratory dinner party with a family of larger-than-life toads! Featuring SUNY Potsdam student actors, “Toad Hall” celebrates community through audience interaction and participation, music and moments of sensory exploration best enjoyed by children under five years old and their families. “Toad Hall” is created by Kerfuffle, a midwestern theatre and dance company for the very young that created performances in direct partnership with children. Seating is first come, first served for the performances, which will be presented from Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 1, with daily shows at 2 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center lobby. 

The traveling educational and creative program BIG INK will bring people to collaborate on creating original prints using large-scale woodblock printmaking techniques, on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, in the Performing Arts Center lobby. LoKo’s hands-on activities won’t stop there—there will also be everything from a Stitch-A-Thon for fiber arts and folk crafting, to interactive night photography workshops, to a storytelling workshop and more. 

The traditional Spring Festival Concert at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will be presented on Friday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m., in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall. The renowned choral composer and conductor Rollo Dilworth will lead the Crane Chorus and Crane Wind Ensemble, presenting works by Lawren Brianna Ware and George Walker, as well as his original piece, “Weather.” This concert is made possible by the Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor Fund. 

The Student Choreographers Concert will feature original pieces conceived of and performed by SUNY Potsdam student dancers, under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Cynthia DuFault. This year’s concert is titled “Connection.” Evening performances will be offered at 7:30 p.m. from Thursday, April 28 to Saturday, April 30, with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. 

Students in SUNY Potsdam’s rigorous Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs will present their original works throughout the LoKo Festival, with graduating seniors offering their original poetry, fiction and prose at the Creative Writing BFA Readings. The Art Museum at SUNY Potsdam will host the annual BFA Exhibition for seniors in its fine arts and graphic design and new media programs, presented through the festival in the Gibson Gallery. 

Guest artist Sue Ellen Herne (Kononwatshen:ri), a Mohawk painter from Akwesasne, will also be working on a large-scale oil painting in Brainerd Hall throughout the arts festival. Guests are welcome to stop by the painting studio on weekends to discuss her work, which focuses on themes of activism, the mistreatment of Native Americans throughout history, and issues of domestic violence. Herne will be donating the new artwork to the College's Weaver Museum of Anthropology and the Art Museum, as well as a painting she completed in 1980 entitled, “Dinner on the Lawn While a War is Going On” in response to protests in Akwesasne.

Visitors to campus are welcome to explore a Solar System Walkthrough Exhibit in the Timerman Hall Gallery, featuring NASA images from Earth and Mars. From evidence of Mars’ fiery past to the landscape-altering effect of liquid water, you’ll learn how these images are created how they allow scientists to study the history of planetary bodies. Titled “Views from Space,” the exhibit will open with a special reception on Friday, April 22 at 5 p.m. Visitors will even be able to use drones to generate images in real time. The Geology Museum and Geoscience Garden will be open for self-guided tours throughout LoKo—just scan the QR codes to find out more and explore. 

Kathryn Kofoed Lougheed ’54 and Donald Lougheed (Hon. ’54) founded the LoKo Arts Festival in 2012, to bring the campus festival tradition back to Kathy’s alma mater. 

North Country Public Radio is the media sponsor for the 2022 LoKo Arts Festival. 

For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/loko. 

About SUNY Potsdam:  

Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America’s first 50 colleges—and the oldest institution within SUNY. Now in its third century, SUNY Potsdam is distinguished by a legacy of pioneering programs and educational excellence. The College currently enrolls approximately 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its challenging liberal arts and sciences core, distinction in teacher training and culture of creativity. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu.