The College of Visual and Performing Arts will feature student musical art , theatrical art and visual art at its third Taste of the Arts festival.

The monthly event began in February as a way to introduce students all over campus to the arts at USF and to raise awareness of the events that the College of Visual and Performing Arts offers, said Jennifer Lenhart, director of marketing and communications for the College.

The upcoming Taste of the Arts, which will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, will offer several performances and exhibits throughout the Visual and Performing Arts (FAH) and Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) buildings.

A parade of theater and dance students will kick the event off early, proceeding from the Phyllis P. Marshall Center to FAH at 11:45 a.m., performing bits and dressed in costume.

Beginning at noon, the USF Jazz Band will play outside of CAM, while the Flute Choir and Bel Canto Women’s Choir will take turns performing in the FAH courtyard.

The spring 2004 Intermediate Painting Class will also offer an art exhibit, Imaginary Space, in the FAH courtyard.

In addition, student actors will perform scenes from USF Theatre’s current production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, a play that blends poetry, dance and theatre to illustrate the experience and struggle of black women in America, in the grassy area outside of CAM.

Graduate student Rachel Hoffman will discuss her Master of Fine Arts thesis show in the Oliver Gallery from 12:20 — 12:40 p.m. Guides will give tours of the 28th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, an exhibition in which students enter their art to be judged by a nationally known museum professional, or artist, inside CAM beginning at noon.

Apple Computers will also host an exhibit of its music composition program, Garage Band, on the FAH patio.

Local restaurants have partnered with USF, providing free food for the event.

Taste of the Arts is held the first Wednesday of each month.

According to Lenhart, the first two Taste of the Arts events were successful.

“We have found that we are drawing from all over the campus — students, faculty and staff all the way from engineering and nursing,” Lenhart said.

Last month’s event featured the USF Jazztet, Trumpet Ensemble, Brass Choir and Deuce Jazz Ensemble. Performances also included scene rehearsals from the plays The Seagull by Anton Chekov and Soul of a Whore by Denis Johnson, along with a preview of the dance show Pandora.

Lenhart said Taste of the Arts benefits USF as a community by involving students. USF Bulls Country, an organization designed to raise school spirit and awareness of USF in the university area, helps sponsor the event, as well.

More importantly, said Lenhart, the event serves individual students.

“The overall benefit is to incorporate the arts into the college experience,” she said.

Taste of the Arts is open to students, staff and faculty.