Celebrating the Arts: Part Two

School Traditions to Celebrate the Arts!

Forsyth Country Day School has a wonderful tradition of celebrating and showcasing student artwork through the The Purchase Award collection.  The Purchase Award has been given annually for forty-one years to one senior that has created an exemplary artwork that both demonstrates outstanding technical skill and can “speak” to a broad school audience.  The artworks are professionally framed and displayed in the one of the main corridors of the school.

The Purchase Award is also presented annually during the Visual Arts Showcase, a tradition started nine years ago to celebrate the artwork created by the AP and senior students.   The Visual Arts Showcase has evolved from a small gathering of students and parents in the art classroom huddled around the slide projector while a student played music from a cassette player to his/her slides into a multi-media presentation in the school auditorium!  Each year, the AP students finish the AP portfolio and then spend the next week developing a PPT presentation that includes their concentration statement (with an embedded digital recording of their voice to read their statement), their best art work of the year (typically most of their portfolio), a music selection that represents their artwork or concentration theme, and animated transitions between slides.  Once students finalize their presentation, I combine the PPT’s and embed the music to make one giant PPT presentation!   Invitations are sent home for the evening event and parents, students, faculty, administrators, and the school community is invited. 

The Visual Arts Showcase was designed to celebrate the achievements of the students.  Sometimes it is hard to see the breadth and in-depth investigation of student work from random pieces that are displayed in the school hallway.  The showcase has become THE place to see each student’s portfolio.  In general, the PPT presentation plays continuously for about 45 – 50 minutes (seniors have roughly three minutes to present their work – including their narration time) and after the presentation, the art instructors give senior awards and say their final good-byes.  As a parting gift, my seniors receive a framed paintbrush (I literally choose the worst paint brushes to frame!) as a memento for their time spent in the visual arts classroom. 

Last night, I celebrated the work of my students and it is always bittersweet to end the year and say good-bye.  My students have worked incredibly hard and were more than deserving of one night of celebration.

-Rebecca Stone-Danahy