MVSU Fine Arts Night

The MVSU first annual Fine Arts Night was a resounding success! The halls were filled with the sights and sounds celebrating the achievements of the actors, artists, and musicians from all of our schools. 

The art galleries were bursting with enthusiasts and the performers had a packed house with standing room only! Thank you all for supporting the MVSU Fine Arts programs!

Fine Arts Night

Greetings family and friends of MVSU Performing & Visual Arts Students!

We hope this message finds you well. Preparations are well underway for our first annual Fine Arts Night celebration, held at the Woodstock Union High School & Middle School on Thursday, April 3rd. We are excited to be inviting artists, actors, and musicians from all of the Mountain Views Supervisory Union. With over 650 students participating, it is sure to be an exciting event! The purpose of this letter is to provide you with logistical information regarding both the daytime rehearsals and nighttime event.

DAYTIME REHEARSAL - Musicians only

All music students will report to their school. Students not on the WUHSMS campus will then travel via school bus and return after lunch at WUHSMS. Students should bring a bag lunch for the day. 

Rehearsals will begin at 9:10 am in the WUHSMS large gym and end at 11 am. Following rehearsals all students will eat together. Students will leave WUHSMS at 11:30 pm.

EVENING EVENT

Art Galleries - Open 5:30 pm - 8 pm with works visible throughout the school

Performance - 6:30 pm

Call time for the performance will be 6:15 pm sharp. Musicians will report to the gym (each school will have a designated area) to drop off personal belongings and to get any materials needed for the performance. Concert dress will be the Fine Arts t-shirt they will create during the morning rehearsal.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

We would love to have light refreshments as part of this immersive experience (a la a gallery opening). We are also looking for assistance with setting up and tearing down. If you are willing and able please indicate your capacity to do so by completing this Volunteer Form.

ARRIVAL & PARKING

We expect this event to be well attended. Please consider additional time for parking in your travel plans.

Art galleries will be open for all to enjoy beginning at 5:30 pm. 

High school music students will be in the lobby of the main entrance directing musicians to their respective locations upon arrival. Families can help facilitate the flow of traffic by reporting to the large gym and finding a seat to enjoy the concert. 

We hope this information proves to be helpful as we make our final preparations for Thursday, April 3rd. Please feel free to contact your fine arts educator with any additional questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you soon!

All our best,

MVSU Fine Arts Educators

Bob Ross Holiday Painting Extravaganza: AP Art

Students in AP Art celebrated the holiday season with a Bob Ross Painting challenge. They chose a Bob Ross video and then spent the next 30 minutes completing a painting. It is not easy completing an entire painting in such a short amount of time. And even though Bob Ross was very supportive and calm, for the students this was at times a very intense and challenging process. 

Everyone embraced their happy accidents and had a wonderful time. 

Digital, Visual and Performing Arts News

Ian Coates, Alaythia Lockhart, and Graham Fox hone in their wheel skills during Pottery class. The wheel requires patience and practice, and a balance of experimentation and technique. 

Art Trip to the Hall Art Foundation

On Wednesday, October 23, three Art classes visited the Hall Art Foundation in Reading, Vermont to see exhibits by Sherry Levine, Barbara Kruger, Zorawar Sidhu, and Rob Swainston. Students in Dr. Gravel’s AP Art History, Ms. Jimerson’s AP Studio Art, and Ms. Piana’s Studio Art toured the exhibits, participated in a "token" exercise choosing works they loved and had questions about in the Barbara Kruger exhibit with Mrs. Kaija, discussed an outdoor sculpture installation titled Waterfall by Olafur Eliasson using Visual Thinking Strategies noting observations, thoughts and feelings with Ms. Piccoli and students went on a sculpture walk through the apple orchard and enjoyed taking breaks on the interactive benches by Jeppe Hein.

One of the sculptures titled Children of the Corn (after the Stephen King novella) by Terence Koh inspired Tegan Miller, a student in AP Art History, to write her own horror novel! She stated, “The Children of the Corn sculpture inspired me to write a horror novel about a field of megaliths that come alive at night, filled with the souls of runaway children.”

When asked about the exhibit that interested him the most, Aksel Oates, a student in AP Art History, said, “I really enjoyed the Doomscrolling exhibit. It was so interesting to see art based on events that we all lived through interpreted in such unique and interesting ways.”  Doomscrolling by Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston is a series of 18 woodblock prints that cover events including the Covid pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the 2020 election, and the insurrection on the Capitol Building that span from May 24, 2020 to January 6, 2021.

The current exhibitions are on view until December 1, 2024. Thanks so much to the Hall Art Foundation for welcoming students from WUHS to learn about contemporary art.