Photo Spotlights

RIT SpringFest entertainment was announced Friday in the Student Alumni Union. Walk the Moon will perform on April 30. The annual spring festival runs April 28-May 1.

Director Luane Davis-Haggerty mixes deaf and hearing actors in a touring production of the Stephen Schwartz broadway musical, Godspell. NTID Performing Arts presents the show March 10 through 13 in the 1510 Theater Lab in LBJ Hall, with free admission and limited seating.

Ryszard Horowitz, world-renowned photocomposer and one of America’s outstanding image makers, attended the opening reception of his new exhibit at RIT’s University Gallery March 10. Ryszard is recognized and celebrated as a pioneer of special effects photography that predates digital imaging. He is one of the youngest known survivors of Auschwitz. The exhibit, sponsored by the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, continues through May 26.

Caroline Baumann, director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, spoke at the Vignelli Design Conversations lecture March 8. In addition, Baumann met with students and faculty to discuss the importance of design to inspire and empower people.

Barbara Rutley, facilities management services, accepted the “Hero Challenge” and played Superman Super Plinko with help from Kimberly Mulley, sales event manager at RIT Inn & Conference Center. The activity was part of the Heroes in Action: Big Bang Edition event kickoff for the 2016 RIT United Way Campaign. To donate, go to rit.edu/unitedway.

Students from Rochester’s James Monroe High School and their teachers take time for a group photo March 8 after attending “Communicating Connections,” a daylong professional development workshop hosted by RIT’s School of Communication. More than 200 area high school students and 250 RIT communications students heard from RIT faculty and outsiders who work in the field of communications about career options. It was the third year for the event.

Nicole Noren, award-winning journalist and a producer for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigation Unit, talks to RIT students, faculty and staff about covering gender-based violence on college campuses.

A series of events celebrating Shakespeare’s legacy are planned for this spring and through the fall. “Music Inspired by Shakespeare” took place on March 5 with the RIT Orchestra and soprano Elizabeth Phillips performing a variety of works inspired by the Bard, accompanied by dance vignettes from New York State Ballet. Here, they performed during a dress rehearsal. To read more, go to rit.edu/news/story.php?id=54754.

Encore, one of RIT’s all-female a cappella groups, performed at their annual concert Bellacappella March 5. RIT Fowl Play, a comedy improv group, made a guest appearance.

Food: A Celebration of Diversity is the current exhibit at Gallery r. The display features photographs of the Marketview Heights neighborhood by RIT photojournalism student Audrey Horn. The show is a collaboration between the Marketview Heights Collective Action Project and RIT/University Community Partnerships.

Sarah Personette, vice president of global business marketing at Facebook, was the keynote speaker at the seventh annual Power Your Potential women’s leadership conference sponsored by Saunders College of Business. She offered some key advice: “Check your ego at the door and concentrate on working as a team to deliver results.” Personette also encouraged women to speak up. “It might be uncomfortable at first, you may feel like you want to play it safe by keeping quiet, but just do it. It’s the only way we can achieve gender parity in the workplace.”

Volunteers were recognized March 3 for their work on the first annual Goodbye, Goodbuy! collection and sale, which raised $21,000 and saved more than 70,000 tons of clothing, furniture, appliances, school supplies and more from landfills. Co-directors Nim Dhillon and Nick Giordano handed out awards to some of the 150 volunteers.