Excellence in the arts is acknowledged through Iowa State’s week long FOCUS Awards Celebration. FOCUS showcases original student work in music, theater, dance, visual arts and literature.

Some of these projects include work in photography, painting and poetry.

Tarisa Matsumoto, graduate student in English, is participating in FOCUS for the first time.

“A couple of fellow students had FOCUS grants last year, and I saw the excellent pieces of literature that they created as a result,” Matsumoto said. “I thought it would be a good way to further my writing, as well as to get experience in self-publishing chapbooks.”

Matsumoto’s piece explores the progression of inheritance through poems and explains some of the effects of growing up in a multicultural family.

“Included are 15 poems which explore my experiences as a person of two different racial and cultural backgrounds,” Matsumoto said. “More and more people in the United States are finding themselves in similar positions, in which their parents are from different racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It can be a traumatic thing to deal with as one is growing up. I feel it is a subject that should be talked about and explored.”

Matsumoto said programs like FOCUS are impotrant to Iowa State.

“[ISU] is Iowa State University of Science and Technology,” Matsumoto said.

“Along with the science and technology aspect of the school, there is a strong tradition in the arts, and students who are interested in the arts should have an outlet to express themselves.”

For the second year in a row, Rachel Hein, senior in graphic arts, is among the talented students being featured in FOCUS.

Hein’s project provides readers a view of the connections between everyday life and graphic design. It is written in a travel diary format.

“Anything that inspired me, disgusted me … went into the pages,” Hein said.

“I also researched and incorporated historical and present day graphic design into my own work. Throughout the whole process, the journals were available for others to view, interact with and respond to. It is fulfilling to see someone pouring over the pages I have lived with and exciting to see them wanting to add to the process, to become a part of it.”

Hein pointed out the importance of acknowledging excellence in the arts.

“The arts express the spiritual and passionate side of our university,” Hein said.

“We are not mindless machines. We are all thinking, feeling beings. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

“Focus is a chance to bring to fruition that project that you’ve been kicking around in the back of your head,” she said. “The college atmosphere is very conducive to creativity. The problem is we never have the time, money or motivation to sit down and bring them to life.”

She said FOCUS serves as an inspirational tool for local student artists.

“FOCUS — and FOCUS grants in particular — encourage you to sit down and hammer out your ideas,” Hein said.

“Then they give you a structural framework of intellectual, creative and financial support from which to build.”

Hein said FOCUS is a very unique way for students to find ideas through another person’s hard work and creativity.

“I personally feel that if a piece strikes a powerful chord in people, then it is a sign of excellence,” he said.

“By pointing out that power, others are encouraged to take part in it as well, and the message reaches more people than would otherwise be possible.”

FOCUS projects will be on display at the Maintenance Shop, starting today at 4:00 p.m.