OPS, DCPS hosting art festivals beginning next week

Mar. 14—Owensboro Public Schools and Daviess County Public Schools are preparing to host their respective arts festivals beginning next week.

Back for the 24th year, the OPS Fine Arts Festival begins March 20 and ends March 30 at the RiverPark Center with different showcases each night highlighting a sector of the art department, from elementary to high school. The event is free and open to the public.

During the festival, 700 pieces of artwork from students from each grade level within the district will be up for display.

Thomas Stites, OPS fine arts coordinator, said the festival is more than just the performances.

"A lot of it is driven by the content of what we're teaching every day," he said. "We're trying to build something that cohesively moves our students and our teachers forward but at the same time, not getting in the way of their actual process of becoming artists."

Stites said this year's theme of "I Will be a Hummingbird" was inspired by one the speakers during the district's opening day assembly before the beginning of the school year.

"That was one of his themes and it's a wonderful folktale about a hummingbird trying to put out a forest fire," he said. "It's all about doing what you can do and doing the best you can. We thought that was a very appropriate theme."

The visual arts departments across the district created a series of birds inspired by outstanding artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Banksy and Edward Hopper.

Stites said the dance performances, however, will be set to Elvis Presley songs, correlating with the recent release of the movie "Elvis."

"Every art form takes its own take on the theme," he said. "We're supporting the students and helping them improve."

This year's OPS festival has some record-breaking numbers when it comes to the number of students involved.

Stites said there are more than 700 choir students, with 350 of those at the elementary level, the most the district has had at that age. The orchestra also has its largest number of students in the history of the program.

"We had so many kids in the choir program that we had to break it into two shows," he said. "The RiverPark Center ran out of room, which is a great problem."

At the end of the festival week on March 30, the district is hosting a PRISM day performance, which is not open to the public.

"We bring in 3,000 students from grades two through eight and some of our best and brightest performers do a one-hour non-stop variety show," Stites said. "It's like being at an arts pep rally."

Hosting this festival provides an opportunity for any and all students to showcase their work for the community and their peers to see.

"A lot of times within the arts, an awful lot of people involved in the arts are from advantaged households because they have the monetary support for private lessons, private tutors and classes," he said. "For about 70% of our students, that's not there."

Stites said OPS has opened the doors.

"We have found talent, ability and the opportunity for so many students that otherwise wouldn't have had that," he said. "That's one of the reasons why I came here."

The DCPS Fine Arts Festival will run March 21-23 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

This year's theme for the show is "Snapshots of Possibility" and will capture a variety of student art projects in various mediums, and they will be on display for the public.

"It's called 'Snapshots of Possibilities' because we can see that within the students' art," said Karen Alward, DCPS fine arts coordinator. "We want to help showcase their work. It gives people an idea about what work is going on in the schools, because every school is different."

Art teachers across the DCPS district select artworks based upon what they have gathered that year.

"We have art clubs at all levels of school, and sometimes they do a larger submission," Alward said. "This year, Apollo High School has a special submission that the viewers can walk through."

Alward said the district began the festival in 2017 and is held as a showcase rather than a competition.

"Every child is indeed an artist and there are precious moments that happen daily in our classrooms that beautifully illustrate the potential we hold dear," she said. "It's important for the community to see what talents students possess."

This festival is more important to the students than anyone else, Alward said.

"It's a great opportunity to let students interact with other students' work to see how they're developing," she said. "It's encouraging for them to have a place for people to see their work and congratulate them."

The fine arts festival is another way the community can see what is happening within the walls of the schools.

"The work at the festival expresses different school personalities," Alward said. "Each campus within DCPS has a unique flair but it also gives the community a chance to see what's the same and what's different in the schools."