For a look at Artober Fest in photos, see the photo gallery at the end of the story, from Elias Born and Nico Ortega for The Criterion.

The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) campus saw its Delta Field covered with students, artists and galleries on Thursday, Oct. 17 for the Department of Art & Design’s Artober Fest. In its fifth year, the Fest featured events open to the public and spectators alike.

“I think it’s really awesome. I kind of look forward to it every year because we don’t see a lot of the art majors branching out of their own building, so it’s nice to see them out and see what they’re actively doing and the projects they’re making and stuff like that,” senior computer science major Tori Riggs said. “Especially since I’m a computer scientist, and I get stuck looking at computer screens all day, it’s nice to see some creativity around.”

Events included the iron pour, where the Sculpture Guild poured molten iron to cast sculptures. The Printmaking Guild demonstrated live printing onto T-shirts and other apparel from woodcuts. Many of these items were up for sale.

Besides the T-shirts, other items for sale included portraits and caricatures being sold by the Animation, Film, Photography & Motion Design Club. They even included a bake sale with free popcorn. The Clay Cub even had ceramics for sale. All the proceeds from sales went directly to the individual student-run clubs.

“We’ve been giving away some pieces and we’re doing a lot of fundraising for Clay Club because we’re going to [The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Annual Conference], which is the national convention here in the States,” junior and Secretary of Clay Club

Jillian MacDonald said. “It’s actually the largest clay convention in the States, or internationally, actually. We’re going to that in March, and that’s in Richmond, Virginia.”

A Chalk Contest allowed students to decorate to their hearts’ content. Limited to five teams or individuals, with prizes for the top three. Chalk was provided for entrants. The Graffiti Wall was covered in art, many times over, until the art of those who started was no longer visible.

Finally, a pop-up gallery was provided by the CMU Art Gallery Student Committee. The one-day pop up gallery included artwork by CMU students and alumni alike.

“A lot of kids have that misconception of art that it’s an easy degree, when that’s not the case at all. It’s actually very time consuming and very difficult so I think events like this can get school involved and get other students involved that might have that negative like connotation of art, and I think that’s really cool that we can bring awareness to it,” MacDonald said.