Spring Festival of the Arts opens May 12

Chris Morris’ owl painting shows the level of talent at Bob Jones Festival of the Arts. Visual, vocal, instrumental and writing arts will be showcased on May 12 from 4 to 8:30 p.m. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – One of the season’s most interesting, entertaining and impressive events will unfold on May 12 with Spring Festival of the Arts at Bob Jones High School.

Spring Festival of the Arts involves approximately 900 high school students, 250 middle school and 50 percent of the elementary population, or about 500 students,” festival coordinator Robin Lakso said. Lakso teaches art at Bob Jones.”

“With parents, siblings, friends and residents attending, it is a huge event for the community,” Lakso said. Students in visual arts, vocal and instrumental music and creative writing will display or perform their talents in Zompa Auditorium, the commons and gym at Bob Jones.

The festival “is a display of all the hard work students in ‘The Arts’ do throughout the City of Madison,” Lakso said. “The Arts are essential for all students because it relates to every core class. It creates thinkers, innovators and problem-solvers, all which are what the careers of today and tomorrow are looking for.”

Doors open at 4 p.m. Art by all ages will be displayed in the upper and lower Commons all evening. Rainbow Chorus will sing in lower Commons at 4:30 and West Madison Chorus sing at 5 p.m. Bob Jones Drumline and Winter Guard will perform in the gym at 6 p.m.

In the auditorium, Discovery Cadet band will play at 5:30 p.m., Elementary Honor Chorus at 6:30 p.m., Discovery Concert Band at 7:30 and Bob Jones Concert Band and Wind Ensemble at 8 p.m. Creative writing students will show their work, too.

Guests can meet Sammy Shin, “Best of Show” winner in State Superintendent’s Art Awards. His work is entitled ”  “, and appears to be a black-and-white portrait of an old man with a crow on his shoulder. “However, Sammy used no black to create this work,” Lakso said.

In lower Commons, Bob Jones senior art portfolios will be featured, along with students’ designs from Art I, II, III, IV, advanced and advanced-placement classes.

“We put the ‘A’ into STEM and STEAM ahead (Science, Technology, Engineering, The Arts and Mathematics),” Lakso said. “Even the University of Alabama requests engineering students take courses in The Arts to think creatively.”