Students Take Part in the Fine Arts
On February 20, on an unusually mild winter day, the annual CCSD59 Fine Arts Festival took place at Friendship Junior High. Calling the arts “an outlet for the creative imagination, that exist to delight the human spirit,” the festival celebrated and reiterated the importance of the Fine and Applied Arts in CCSD59.
Hundreds of student-created art pieces were on display, demonstrating a variety of mediums.
Painted ukuleles, sewn backpacks from the life skills program, paintings and paper art, digital art displays, and windmills and robotics were all among the projects featured this year.
Over 300 students in band and orchestra performed at the annual event, in independent and combined performances. Many styles of music were performed, including music from a “Godzilla” film soundtrack, “Don’t Stop Believin”, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, and “On With the Show”, to name just a few.
Dance was also well represented at the Fine Arts show. Performances by students from the Spirit Squad, dance groups from the PE creative dance classes, and a new dance group called Orchesis which collaborates with the Elk Grove High School, were all featured at the event.
Students also emceed the entire show, telling the audience what they were about to see and providing a background on the accomplishments of each group that was performing. It is also worth noting that all the photos taken that accompany this news story were taken by eighth graders from Friendship’s Photography Club, showing that photography is also an art.
It was the first experience with the Fine Arts Festival for Jodi Megerle, Principal at Friendship, and she said she was “truly amazed by both the talent and number of students that participated in the day’s events.” Like many attendees, one of her favorite moments was the finale rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” that featured all three elementary and junior high choirs.
She said, “Seeing the four schools come together and deliver a piece of music that reaches a wide range of ages made me feel inspired and honored to work in a district that celebrates the artistic and musical talents of our students.”
Want to see more of the event? Check out these tweets from the day’s festivities:
Great job to all that participated in the D59 Fine Arts Fest today! @ccsd59 https://t.co/576yZrwBKb pic.twitter.com/DaCfdfTyOD
— Friendship JHS (@D59Friendship) February 20, 2016
The artwork is set! 1pm art walk at FJHS! @D59Friendship pic.twitter.com/1TxPI0fLB4 — Mrs. Zolmierski (@FJHS_Music) February 20, 2016
Congrats to all the performers and artists on an amazing festival! Post-finale selfie with the mass choir! pic.twitter.com/dMQQGFJpRe
— Mrs. Zolmierski (@FJHS_Music) February 20, 2016