An open mic night organized by the Art Club was held in the Bakersfield College Fireside room on Nov. 9.
All students were welcome to participate and express themselves through poetry, music, lyrics or just anything they felt.
“We organized this event for all students here at BC. We just wanted to give students a chance to express themselves through poetry or music and to see what interest the students,” said organizer Laura Opperman.
There was a lot of poetry that the students shared at this event.
The performers expressed many deep emotions such as sadness, love, anxiety, encouragement and overwhelming feelings.
On the other hand, the music was very energetic throughout the night. There were a couple songs that were sung about broken hearts, but the others were loud and cheerful.
There was one particular performer who had the crowd laughing the entire time with his comedic performance.
“My style is pirate rockish with gypsy elements and a lot of Irish influence. And I also have comedic lyrics,” said Victorio Xavier, a performer from the event.
All of the performers had great talent while expressing their feelings in front of the crowd.
“Singing is a form of communication along with poetry. It is important for students to express themselves through all types of communication, whether people hear it or not,” Xavier said.
Throughout the night, the Art Club also had a silent auction going on in the back of the room.
There were little drawings painted and pinned up on the back for students to look at and see what they wanted.
“These are called ‘Postcard for Charity’ and 50 percent will go to the Art Club and the other 50 percent will go to a no-kill animal shelter in Fresno. We decided it was a good idea to put these two events together,” said Opperman.
Half of the money raised during open mic night will be going to the Animal Rescue of Fresno.
“I really am thankful for whoever put this event together because I really enjoyed watching and hearing all these strong emotions that were expressed.” said Lucy Cervantes, a spectator at the event.”
Plus, it also helps some with relieving stress,”
This was the first time Open Mic Night was put together at BC.
“We hope to do it more times throughout the year and we welcome more students to participate in this event,” said Opperman.
Although Open Mic Night was a success according to Opperman, there weren’t many people who showed up.
“We are trying to bring the arts back to campus. As much participation we can get will make that happen,” said Chris Ballard, an Art Club organizer.