The Big Blue Puppet

Prior to the commencement ceremony on Sunday, Kira Pogge '08 entertained the early arrivals with her ten-foot tall puppet costume she created named RITA. RITA was the end product of Kira's senior creative arts capstone course this spring. The capstone called for students to design their own project which took Kira the entire semester to do. "It was a lot of work, but pretty cool too," Kira said. Her costume is made from products found in her basement at home, including her high school back pack, Joanne Fabrics and Lowe's.
Active in the Siena chorus, orchestra and pep band during her years at Siena, Kira also spent eight months in the Walt Disney World College Program where she was honored with the Quarterly Performance Award for the Entertainment Division.
Kira will be attending The College of St. Rose this fall where she will pursue a master's degree in communications.

RITA combines the many skills and talents fostered by the Creative Arts program, the synergistic combination of visual, musical, physical and tactile aspects that come together to inspire the heart, the mind, and the soul. Kira will attend graduate school in the fall and plans to pursue a career in the not-for-profit sector, connecting resources to needs in an effort to build hope and fulfill dreams.
RITA, stands for Relentless Innocence Thoughtful Ambition. RITA realizes that smiles, which cost nothing, hold tremendous power – the power to make a frown into a grin, the power to change tears to laughter, the power to make strangers into friends, and the power to make a lonely heart feel loved. She encourages you all to feel free to share more smiles today and always.