In a further bid in its campaign to dispel the “Myth of the Starving Artist,” Ringling College of Art and Design has teamed up with John Korff of the Sarasota Half Music Marathon to introduce the first ever Sarasota Hunger Games. From Apr. 11 to Apr. 12 select students from the various departments within the college will be pitted in a campus-wide no-holds-barred fight to the death in the name of arts education awareness. The winner will receive full scholarships for up to two years and a $50 gift certificate to Michael's, while all runner-ups receive custom headstones to be determined from the college’s upcoming “Etched In Stone” design competition.

“Just like in art, there are no rules,” declared Ringling College President Dr. Larry Thompson, suspended above the student body in a Giger-esque bodysuit of fire and leather. “Well, almost none.” With traditional weapons banned, students will be forced to rely on their ingenuity, crafting deadly weapons from common artistic implements. Students are also forbidden from crying until the competition, and the cameras, leave.

“You’d expect the sculpture students to be the real threat, but that’s not the case,” said sophomore illustration major Sarika Bhupalam, melting the bristles of her paintbrush into something resembling a prison shiv. “It’s the computer animation people you’ve got to watch out for. They do crazy things in there.”

Five students from each of the college’s 13 departments were chosen by lottery yesterday evening to dismember their classmates for the glory of their chosen field. Winners such as Bhupalam will be exempt from classes through the end of the competition and given free access to an obstacle course and fitness regimen designed by Korff, drawing from his experience both in Sarasota and in New York, where he founded the New York City Triathlon.

“I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about when I signed up; I thought they were kidding until they showed me the funding,” said Korff, who reports he has not slept or eaten since. “But I’m honored, I guess? Anything that gets the kids up and moving and gets their blood pumping.”

“Or flowing,” quipped Thompson, cackling into the sky before pausing to lay a fatherly hand on the shoulder of a crying lottery winner. “May the arts be ever in your favor.”

Winners and their respective odds for survival can be found at the Sarasota Hunger Games website. All bets are final, with proceeds going to the new Student Life building planned for 2016.