Arts Week this year started strong as the talented cast of Grease treated the Upper School to a teaser of the amazing Spring Musical. The talented actors drew back many students to watch the show again that weekend. Students celebrated the arts with multiple themed dress-up days and arts performances. Throughout the week, students covered the senior patio with chalk art, colored in an Arts Week mural, and enjoyed a student visual art gallery.
On Friday, the dress up theme was “Dress as Your Favorite Artist” and Mrs. White hosted an open ceramics studio. Students from all Upper School grades attended and made ceramics masterpieces with the instruction of Mrs. White. Most students dressed up in artists’ concert merchandise from a live performance they attended.
On Thursday, students paired, tripled, or even quadrupled up to match the theme “Rhyme without Reason.” The highlight of Tuesday’s assembly was the costume contest. During lunch, Arts Committee members set up a polaroid photo booth on the Senior Patio complete with a backdrop and many Hollywood-themed props to choose from. Students who dressed up took photos with their “Rhyme without Reason” groups. Also on the Senior Patio, the Pioneer sponsored a poetry reading.
On Wednesday, students exhibited their Hogwarts pride by dressing in the colors of their Harry Potter house. During lunch, students gathered outside by Gottesman Gate to view lunch performances. Morgan Price and Cooper sang “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, Aditi performed an Indian classical dance called Bharatanatyam that depicted Shivu (the Hindu god of dance) in his various poses, and Mr. Cramer performed one of his band’s original songs.
The last day of Arts Week was Thursday, and students dressed in neon. Arts Week culminated with the Arts Assembly, showcasing talented artists in our own Upper School community. Students were greeted with glow stick necklaces and bracelets as they entered the Henson Auditorium. The Assembly opened with an announcement about the winners of the Visual Arts Gallery superlatives. Here is a full list of the winners:
Most Creative – Tie Between Nonconformity by Joyce He and A New World by Jack Hance
Most Colorful – Tie between Kaleidoscope by Ellie Zurik and The Hummingbird by Madeleine Long
Most Realistic – Blossom by Lucyna Wojcik
Most Abstract – Nonconformity by Joyce He
The Choir then started the performances with a rendition of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” by Dolly Parton, with Evie Bigelow shining during the solo. Lilly Gorman and Colin Rills MC’d the assembly, keeping students’ energy up with their artfully punchy jokes. The assembly then listened to a performance from E Freyou, who sang “Anything” by Adrianne Lenker. Next, Onyx Kukuy serenaded us with “I Hear a Symphony” by Cody Fry on the piano. Afterwards, Aadyha sang “All of Me” by John Legend. Next, some of Mrs. Niehus’ students screened their films for the Upper School. Three films were shown: “Paranoia,” “The Ribbon,” and “Slumped.” After the showing, Lexie Toshav, Vivian Zhou, Psalm McClellan, and Wendy Sun performed the song “Flowers” from the musical Hadestown. Next, Lilly Gorman, John Sanpietro, and Nick White sung “Those You’ve Known” from Spring Awakening. Finally, William Pitts closed out the assembly with a hilarious comedy act that resulted in a standing ovation from the audience.
Throughout the show, students formed a gigantic chain of glow sticks that crossed aisles and spanned multiple rows. While sophomore Russell Huber claims he started the chain, his details seem a little muddled; he soon lost control of the glow stick chain as it migrated through the auditorium crowd. However, I can definitely attest to the fact that this chain made it much easier to clean up all of the glow sticks after the assembly.
Overall, Arts Week 2024 was a huge success, and props to everyone on the Arts Committee for putting this community-wide celebration of the arts together!
