Paint brushes must be ready, pencils sharpened and dance shoes shined for the upcoming March 1 deadline for submissions for inclusion in the Asian American Cultural Center’s exhibit during the Boneyard Arts Festival.

The Boneyard Arts Festival commemorates artwork through various media. It happens throughout the Champaign-Urbana community and will take place in early April.

May Xiong, assistant director of the Asian American Cultural Center, said this year’s theme deals with images of motherhood.

The center picked this year’s theme because the month of May celebrates Mother’s Day and is a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, she said.

“It kind of fit well and nicely into that, and it leads us into the celebration of Asian and Asian American heritage,” Xiong said. “Not only celebrating our heritage, but also celebrating some of the people who have been a huge part of our lives in different ways. (Motherhood) made sense in that way for us.”

She added that the center is opening up to the students’ creativity for this celebration of motherhood this year. It can be about the artists’ own mothers, siblings who are mothers, friends who are mothers or even grandmothers, Xiong said.

Henry Wang, former treasurer for Asian Pacific American Coalition and senior in LAS, said the cultural center is taking the responsibility to teach issues to University students beyond the scope of college life.

“Motherhood is something that you would rarely find on a college campus,” Wang said. “AACC (the Asian American Cultural Center) is aware of that. They use their ability to teach students something they wouldn’t seek out.”

Kelly White, programs and marketing manager for the Boneyard Arts Festival, said it is wonderful to see cultural houses on campus participate in this festival.

“I think it brings a new audience of people onto campus that might not approach on a regular basis,” White said. “It opens those doors.”

She said she encourages people from the community to come out to different venues, because it introduces these people to new spaces in the Champaign-Urbana area.

White added that the festival is a chance for art and talent to be seen by others in the community, allows different venues to invite new people and provides a new audience for performers and artists alike.

“It’s a chance for everyone to come out and see that talent locally,” she said.

Stephanie Camba, member of Asian Pacific American Coalition, Philippine Student Association and junior in ACES, said she is still debating on whether to participate in the festival with her spoken word performances, yet she said she is leaning toward a yes.

“I’ve always written poetry as long as I could remember,” she said. “I think it’s an outlet. It’s a lot more experiential. It conveys a lot more emotion and a way for me to express my own emotions — a relief, a form of empowerment.”

Harnessing the talent and bringing together the Asian or Asian American artists in the larger community is one of the goals of the festival, Xiong said.

“This is something we’ve always done (participating in the festival). One of my responsibilities is community outreach, and that’s something we really want to foster, support and build upon, because it’s a part of our community here,” Xiong said.

With over 100 venues showcasing artists in the Boneyard Arts festival, White said she wants to see the festival expand in the coming years for the opportunity of all artists.

“The image of an artist exists within all people. It’s not a certain type of stereotype, image or identity,” Camba said. “Art is so fluid. It exists within all of us.”