President Kyle, Dean Scartelli, Art Society members, faculty and staff, honored guests, students and friends it is a privilege and honor for me to welcome you all tonight.

Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel stated that:

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

This quote applies to all of the arts. It is how we live and what is happening around us, which is why it is hard to express how much gratitude we as artists have for the generosity, support, and unlimited appreciation of the Arts Society.

I often ask people I meet, “If you could do anything in the world what would it be?” They often think about it a minute and then their face lights up and they begin to tell me a dream they have such as, “I would work in the music industry,” or “I would paint” or “I would be an actor.” Then I ask the next question, “what is your major” and they usually say something such as business or economics. When I am asked the very same question my answer is, “I would be, and WILL be, a fashion designer.” When deciding on schools, like many students in the visual and performing arts field, my first request was that the school had a fashion design program. As I was telling people about what I wanted to do many were skeptical about pursuing something of this nature, but the advisors at Radford were so excited about the arts and insisted I could actually do this as a career. We, in the Visual and Performing Arts programs, are very fortunate to be pursuing our dreams as a career and to have found the support of a University such as Radford. How exciting is that!

As a student in the visual and performing arts I would like to thank the amazing faculty and staff of the College. While in New York City this summer completing an internship, my employer said to make sure to tell the faculty at Radford they are doing an amazing job teaching all aspects of design, and were so astonished of the knowledge I had learned. So thank you to all faculty for always pushing us to become better and being brutally honest sometimes when we really need to step it up. As we enter into our respective fields we can be confident we will represent Radford as hard- working, talented professionals.

I would also like to thank my fellow students in the arts. While in McGuffey, the Interior Design and Fashion building, the other day, the Interior Design program was passing out this t-shirt that says DSNI on the front, which are the initials for Interior Design, and on the back it says, “What are you doing this weekend?” Below is the layout of McGuffey. The Interior Design department is honored to donate this t-shirt to President Kyle. The time we spend on projects and meeting deadlines does not go unnoticed and I can say with confidence that I see most of you working on weekends, like the t-shirt implies, to ensure that the high quality of your work doesn’t fade.

I thank those of you in Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, Cinema, Interior Design and Fashion for your hard work, time, and the courage to pursue your dreams. We will each be an example of what talent and an excellent education can produce.

Most importantly, thank you to the Arts Society members for believing in us when many did not, and allowing us to follow our dreams through your amazing generosity. If not for your scholarships and support we would be unable to say, “I am actually getting to make a career from my dreams!” Thank you for your passion and commitment to excellence.

T.E. Lawrence once wrote:

“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”

Thank you