Guests walk the floors of the cafeteria, admiring the galleries of eye-catching art pieces as music from the Jazz Band fills their ears. At the Fine Arts Festival on Thurs, Mar. 21, there was much more than just paintings: sculptures, choir and theater performances, friendship bracelets, and more delighted those who dedicated their evening to exploring the arts.
The goal of the festival each year is to elevate and showcase the hard work of all artists in the community. Mrs. Michelle McCune emphasizes how the Fine Arts Festival is for more than just visual arts students.
“It’s not only for our visual arts students, but also performing arts students. The Fine Arts Festival includes any 2D and 3D art that students have done throughout the year, and also choir, band, and theater perform,” Mrs. McCune said.
Further beyond spotlighting the fine works of art, the festival gives a chance for its attendees to participate in some art of their own, with a variety of activities for viewers to entertain themselves with.
“People [were] able to make friendship bracelets, dabble in printmaking and make stamps, there’s a mural for kids to paint on. There’s lots of activities for people to do at the festival,” Mrs. McCune said.
In order to provide many of these artistic activities to guests, much preparation has to occur. Planning for the Fine Arts Festival began as early as the first quarter.
“We start really at the beginning of the year, and we come up with a theme,” Mrs. McCune said. “Really early we have to start coordinating and finding a date. Usually, we prefer to have it on a Friday evening.”
As for the rest of the setup, many duties such as gathering art pieces and arranging the interactable stations for attendees were delegated to the National Art Honor Society (NAHS), led by students invested in the arts around the school. Junior Aubrey Simpson, a member of NAHS put into detail the efforts made to bring the festival to life.
“Once the Fine Arts Festival is coming up, we work on collecting all of the different art pieces from our members and the art classes. We’re also really focused on setting up booths. We [worked] on cookie decorating this year, along with stamp-making and other things to do,” Simpson said.
Other than helping plan the event, Simpson also felt excited for the showcase of unique arts she’s seen around the community, like printing or sculptures.
“One person in my AP Art and Design class does etchings, where she scratches into plastic and then prints it. It’s actually really cool,” Simpson said.
Another member of NAHS enjoys how the Fine Arts Festival spotlights rare art forms. Senior Jordan Sexton enjoys seeing a medium of his featured at the festival.
“Printmaking pieces are something that I like to see at the festival. It’s different from just drawing or painting because of its unique process, and it’s really fun to see,” Sexton said.
On the surface, the festival may appear to be only a large art gallery, but an art gallery serves a purpose of its own. Much more than just expression or communication, artists pour their thoughts, emotions, and energy into works that deserve the attention they receive. Mrs. McCune sees the value of a showcase like this to be inspirational to its viewers.
“It shows every level of artistic capability … so hopefully it could give people attending the confidence to try pursuing art in their own time,” Mrs. McCune said. “I think the main takeaway from our festival is to just enjoy art and enjoy being around art. Take some time – it doesn’t have to be long – and just immerse yourself in these students’ work.”
