The winners of the Tritons Night of the Arts were recognized during an awards ceremony on May 8. Sitting L-R: Ha'ani Castro, 1st place and People’s Choice art exhibit winner; Lauren Melencio, 2nd place art exhibit winner; Davin Carandang, 3rd place (tie) art exhibit winner; Shayza Advincula, 3rd place (tie) art exhibit winner; and Nicole Duenas, 2nd place poetry slam winner. Not pictured: Sara Rekdahl, 1st place poetry slam winner; and Michael Castro, 3rd place poetry slam winner. Standing L-R: Andrew Ippoliti, Associate Professor of Fine Arts; Jerrold Castro, Adjunct Instructor of Fine Arts; Shawn Wegner, Associate Director of UOG Endowment Foundation; Dr. Sharleen Santos-Bamba, Senior Vice President and Provost; Dr. James Sellmann, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; and Dr. Velma Yamashita, Professor of Art and Coordinator for the Isla Center of the Arts.

The winners of the Tritons Night of the Arts art exhibit stand with their winning pieces. L-R: Ha'ani Castro, 1st place and People’s Choice winner; Lauren Melencio, 2nd place winner; Davin Carandang, 3rd place (tie) winner; and Shayza Advincula, 3rd place (tie) winner.

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The Tritons Night of the Arts, an event sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, was held on April 9 and showcased the creative and artistic talents of UOG’s students through a number of activities, including an art exhibit and a poetry slam competition.

Art Exhibit Winners 

• First Place: Ha'ani Castro (Sophomore, Fine Arts: Art) for “Don’t Let Ani Drive the Funny Car”
• Second Place: Lauren Melencio (Sophomore, Fine Arts: Art) for “Hot Summer Day”
• Third Place (tie): Shayza Advincula (Senior, Nursing) for “Spider Lily” and Davin Carandang (Sophomore, Civil Engineering) for “Fractured”
• People’s Choice: Ha'ani Castro for “Surprise!”

 The art exhibit featured more than two dozen works in a variety of mediums from 15 undergraduate students. The artworks were evaluated on the criteria of creativity/originality, skill/execution, composition/design, and overall impact by a panel of five judges. The People’s Choice was determined by popular vote cast by attendees of the Tritons Night of the Arts.

The monetary prizes for the art exhibit winners were sponsored by the UOG Endowment Foundation.

Poetry Slam Winners 

• First Place: Sara Rekdahl (Junior, English Literature and Political Science)
• Second Place: Nicole Duenas (Sophomore, English Literature)
• Third Place: Michael Castro (Graduate Student, English)

The poetry slam featured eight undergraduate and graduate students who presented their own original work. A panel of five judges scored each poet based on the writing and performance of their poem.

The monetary prizes for the poetry slam winners were sponsored by the Society of Emeritus Professors of Retired Scholars (SEPRS).

Support for the Arts

During the ceremony, the winners were presented with recognition certificates and checks for their prizes.

Dr. Sharleen Santos-Bamba, Senior Vice President and Provost, thanked the event organizers, volunteers, judges, faculty members, and student organizations who helped make the Tritons Night of the Arts a success. She also congratulated the winners, highlighting both the quality of their work and the range of academic disciplines that they represent.

“The Tritons Night of the Arts and the beautiful creations that came out of that evening remind us of two things: how the arts have the power to bring people from different disciplines together and that our students have immense creative talent that should be supported and celebrated,” Santos-Bamba said.