Columbia Lights Up State Street at Chicago’s Arts in the Dark Parade
Columbia College Chicago students lit up State Street during the city’s annual Arts in the Dark Parade, showcasing creativity across music, dance, design, and performance.
Inspired by the 2025 film of the same name, the “Sinners” ensemble dressed in 1930s-inspired attire brought theatrical flair, channeling the style of classic Hollywood cinema through choreographed movement and improvisation.
The Columbia College Jazz Ensemble infused the parade with the unmistakable sound and spirit of New Orleans.
Joseph Cerqua (left) and Wilfredo Rivera received the Creative Spirit Award at this year’s Arts in the Dark Parade for their collaborative impact on Chicago’s arts community.
The "Sinners" Ensemble.
Students in the Big Chicago class, led by faculty members Taylor Hokanson and Erin McCarthy, created oversized animal masks honoring the spirits of Chicago’s historic Union Stockyards.
Members of the MoCP’s Photography Guild joined the parade as live-action paparazzi, capturing the celebration.
Taylor Hokanson (left) and Erin McCarthy led the Haunted Stockyards project. 
The School of Visual Arts organized a photo booth, a zine-making workshop, and a painting battle.
Students danced the night away at the afterparty as the evening’s creative energy extended beyond State Street and back onto campus. The lights of downtown Chicago glowed even brighter on October 18 as Columbia College Chicago students filled State Street with color, sound, and movement during the city’s 11th annual Arts in the Dark Parade. Produced by local non-profit LUMA8 and drawing more than 50,000 spectators, the event celebrated Halloween as the “artist’s holiday” and featured creative work from more than 90 arts organizations across the city.
This year marked Columbia’s first large-scale, coordinated participation, bringing together students and faculty from multiple schools for a dynamic blend of performance, design, photography, and music. Columbia also hosted a public afterparty at the college’s Student Center, bridging the gap between the citywide celebration and the campus community.
Creative Collaboration on Display
Guided by Columbia faculty and staff, student and community groups transformed their creative ideas into dynamic live performances.
Haunted Stockyard (Big Chicago Class): Led by Taylor Hokanson (School of Visual Arts) and Erin McCarthy (School of Communication and Culture), students built oversized masks of pigs, sheep, and cows—a homage to the animals whose spirits linger despite the closure of Chicago’s historic Union Stock Yards in 1971. Combining historical reflection with creativity, the procession evoked the ghosts of the city’s industrial past and is connected to Hokanson’s sabbatical research at ADEMA University in Mallorca, where he examined the cross-cultural importance of public festivals and cured meat.
Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) Photography Guild: In collaboration with Filter Photo and Latitude Chicago, MoCP welcomed photographers from across the Chicagoland area to become the parade's live action paparazzi. Through analog and digital cameras, friends, staff, board members, and volunteers of Chicago's photography organizations engaged the crowds while moving along to house music by DJ Side Town the Clown. Photographs from the Photography Guild will be on view through a digital exhibition on MoCP's website later this year.
Second Line Band: Led by Scott Hall, professor of instruction and coordinator of Contemporary Musicianship and Jazz at the School of Audio and Music, members of the Columbia College Jazz Ensemble infused the parade with the unmistakable sound and spirit of New Orleans. “New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz and migrated with the genius of Louis Armstrong to Chicago in the 1920s,” says Hall. “Our students carry on this tradition of jazz in the club, the concert hall, and the street.”
“Sinners” Ensemble: Inspired by the 2025 film “Sinners,” student performers dressed in 1930s-inspired attire brought theatrical flair, channeling the style of classic Hollywood cinema through choreographed movement and improvisation. Their film noir–style interactions blurred the line between performer and spectator.
Serving as creative director for the “Sinners” Ensemble, Musical Theatre BFA student Raynner García incorporated Afro-diasporic elements and intercultural storytelling into the choreography. “With guidance and inspiration from Connie Stanley (assistant dean of Student Affairs Operations), who suggested using an intercultural scene from the film, I created a choreography that was both cohesive and intentionally contradictory,” García says. “Mentoring each group to discover their own authentic, collaborative way of expressing and telling our story made the process deeply fulfilling.”
From State Street to the Student Center
Following the parade, Columbia and Red Bull hosted an afterparty at the Student Center, open to both students and the public. Columbia community members from across the college’s many programs joined the celebration, including the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, who transformed part of the event space into a haunted house.
The School of Visual Arts organized a photo booth, a zine-making workshop, and a painting battle. The exhibition hall featured a performance from the Audio and Music DJ club and projected experimental video courtesy of Film and Television. Afterparty attendees, energized by the Arts in the Dark parade, danced the night away as the evening’s creative energy extended beyond State Street and back onto campus.
Reflecting on the experience, García says, “It felt like the whole city became our stage. We weren’t just performing — we were part of something that showed how powerful creativity can be when it connects people.”
Hands-On, Citywide Creativity
Behind every light and sound was weeks of collaboration among faculty, staff, and students who worked across disciplines to design, build, and rehearse their contributions. The result reflected Columbia’s city-as-a-classroom approach to creative learning — hands-on, experimental, and deeply connected to Chicago.
“Our students didn’t just make costumes — they built a moving, illuminated history of Chicago’s labor and community identity,” says Hokanson of the stockyards project. “It’s the perfect example of how art can honor the past while bringing people together in the present.”
School of Fashion Director and parade co-organizer Colbey Reid, PhD, adds, “Arts in the Dark showcased what makes Columbia distinct: creative risk-taking, collaboration across disciplines, and students using their craft to shape the culture around them.”
See more photos of the Arts in the Dark parade and afterparty here.
Columbia Faculty Recognized for Creative Impact
Two faculty members received the Creative Spirit Award at this year’s Arts in the Dark Parade.
Joseph Cerqua, adjunct professor of instruction and creative director and producer in the School of Audio and Music, and Wilfredo Rivera, Musical Theatre program coordinator and assistant professor of instruction in the School of Theatre and Dance, were honored for their collaborative impact on Chicago’s arts community.
Together, Cerqua and Rivera co-founded Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre in 1996, blending live music, dance, and visual art to explore themes of identity, culture, and social connection.
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