You Have the Floor gives students the stage for three and a half minutes to sing a song, display a video or present a piece of art from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Gallery 1910 of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Alan Pocaro, a printmaking and foundations professor, said this is the first time the art department has done this kind of open mic night for students.

“The main idea went from something really art-focused to something that is definitely creative-focused,” Pocaro said. “It encompasses things like story-telling, musical performance and of course, then people will show work.”

You Have the Floor is a free-form, open mic event and there is not much consistency, he said.

Pocaro said the open mic is not limited to art students.

“It became a collaborative event with the magazine produced by the art department called Blue Room Magazine,” Pocaro said. “They are having a simultaneous event to kind of get people aware of what they do and what Blue Room is.”

Madeline Pearson, a senior 2D studio art major and editor-in-chief of Blue Room Magazine, said the students come up with the content and decide what is going into the magazine.

The magazine was created three years ago because creators wanted to give students an outlet to showcase their work, she said.

Pearson said the team working on the magazine does not have its own printing facility, but once the staff gets the pages, they bind the magazines together.

She said Blue Room Magazine operates a lot within the art department, so a lot of the art students already know about it.

“We really want (students) to see that Blue Room is actually something that is really cool, that is happening in the university,” Pearson said. “Really, the point of (the collaboration) is to help get the word out more.”

Students who are part of the Blue Room Magazine will have a table set up, issues to hand out, and they will talk about what they do and their submission process.

Pearson said the staff of Blue Room Magazine wants all kinds of majors to join.

Working for Blue Room Magazine is a unique opportunity and an experience not a lot of people know about, she added.

Pocaro said he encourages students to come participate, because getting involved helps distinguish students from the several hundred thousand other graduates in the country.

“No kind of creativity occurs in a vacuum. You have to be around other people,” Pocaro said. “Plus there will be free pizza.”

Kennedy Nolen can be reached at 581-2812 or kdnolen@eiu.edu.