Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Performing Arts, National Technical Institute for the Deaf Performing Arts Department, and Dance at RIT have teamed up to create and produce an original production, “Pure Imagination: The Magical Candy Shoppe,” April 17-19, on the RIT campus.

Ovation was created nearly a decade ago to push students to be more creative, innovative, complex thinkers, traits that are desirable with prospective employers.

Thomas Warfield, director of dance and professor of practice at NTID's Department for Performing Arts, appeared on WXXI's Connections with Evan Dawson to discuss consumer's relationships with artists and their creative work, and whether one can truly separate the art from the artist.