This year, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State is launching a three-year festival of events with the goal of promoting the work of Black performing artists.
The Fierce Urgency Festival, named after a 1967 quote by Martin Luther King, Jr., was conceived in summer 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd, according to Amy Vashaw, the centerâs director of audience and program development.
Vashaw said the Fierce Urgency Festival presents an opportunity for students to âbecome global citizens.â
âAt a predominantly white institution in the middle of Pennsylvania, itâs important to show everybody the diversity of people that make up this earth,â Vashaw said.