Visions is a year-long, multi-visit program involving 42 high school art students from six Valley high schools. Each month from August to May, they meet at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) for an all-day workshop or a field trip with a professional artist in sculpture, painting/drawing, or multimedia, followed by a tour and discussion of current exhibitions at SMoCA.

This year, sculpture students of Desert Mountain’s Tyler Novak and multi-media students of Chaparral High School’s Desiree DeVirgilio learned new techniques, collaborated with their contemporaries from the other participating schools, and engaged with local artists in a way that is so valuable, regardless of whether they end up pursuing a career in the arts. 

A culminating exhibition in SMoCA’s Center Space Gallery displays the students’ final pieces, a celebration of the skills, inspirations, and ideas exchanged between students and artists over the course of the 2022–2023 program. See the remarkable results for yourself! The Visions exhibition runs through August 27^th   SMoCA is located next to the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts at 7374 E. 2^nd St., Scottsdale.

Photo credit Betty L. Hum  

From high school stages around central Arizona, theatre program students gathered May 27^th at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium in Tempe for the ninth annual High School Musical Theatre Awards ceremony.

SUSD students were among those collecting awards for their work on stage, behind the scenes, and in their school and community.  Recent Saguaro HS grad Spencer Wareing was a co-recipient of the ASU Gammage Leadership Award and the Set and Props Team from Chaparral HS took top honors in the Best Set and Props category.  Congratulations, Thespians all!

May was full of year-end plays, musicals, concerts, art walks, competitions, and field trips.  It was wonderful to finally be able to bring back all of the school year’s traditional, culminating events that not only bring the community to our schools, but also take our students out and about around town and out of state for festivals and performances. Orchestras and choirs also played key roles in our high school’s graduation ceremonies last week, too. All told, SUSD’s Fine Arts programs had a fabulous year!

 

Read more at The SUSD Source

 

Here’s your final chance this school year to see student performances – they are well worth your while!

May 2: Desert Canyon MS, Performing Arts Gala, 5 p.m., DCMS Gym
May 2: Anasazi ES/Laguna ES May Orchestras Concert, 5:15 p.m. (Laguna); 6:15 p.m. (Anasazi), Mountainside MS Cafeteria
May 2: Laguna ES Orchestra Concert, 6 p.m., Laguna Cafeteria
May 2-3: Hopi ES 3^rd Grade Wax Museum, 9 a.m.
May 3: Pueblo ES Dust Devil Singers Spring Concert, 6 p.m., Pueblo Café
May 3: Yavapai ES Strings & Band Final Concert, 1:30 p.m., Thunderbird Hall
May 3: Desert Canyon ES 4^th Grade Musical, 6:30 p.m., DCMS stage
May 4: Mountainside MS/Desert Mountain HS Orchestras’ End-of-the-Year Concert, 6 p.m. DMHS Auditorium
May 4-5: Saguaro HS "Century of Song," 7 p.m., Auditorium
May 9: Tonalea MS Choir Concert, 6:30 p.m.
May 11: Cochise ES Spring Chorus Choral Concert, 6:30 p.m.
May 11: Tonalea MS Spring Orchestra & Band Concert, 6:30 p.m.
May 11: Desert Mountain HS Choir Senior Showcase Concert, 7 p.m., Auditorium
May 12: Navajo ES STEAM Showcase, 9:30 a.m.
May 12: Pueblo ES Kindergarten Spring Program, 2:40 p.m.
May 16: Mountainside MS Choir Concert, 6:30 p.m., Mini Auditorium
May 17: Anasazi ES End-of-Year IB Celebration & Showcase, 5 p.m.
May 18: Desert Canyon ES 5^th Grade Choir Concert, 6:30 p.m., DCMS stage

The Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency is the latest testament to a rich history of excellent arts education in the state. This diploma seal is administered by the Arizona Department of Education’s Office of Arts Education and is awarded to graduates who complete minimum arts pathway requirements throughout their high school career:

• To celebrate students who demonstrate high levels of proficiency in the Arizona Arts Education Standards through personal expression and creative experiences in arts education programs
• To identify pathways of artistic literacy that cultivate skills for 21^st century success
• To prepare students for college and career readiness, including active participation in the creative industries sector
• To promote increased access to well-rounded, high quality arts education across the state

We are excited to announce that in SUSD’s graduating Class of 2023, we have 76 students who will receive diplomas with the Arts Proficiency Seal affixed, one of whom double-sealed in Music and Theatre.  Here is the breakdown, by campus:

• 5 from Arcadia HS
• 25 from Chaparral HS
• 1 from Coronado HS
• 19 from Desert Mountain HS
• 24 from Saguaro HS

Driven by our outstanding arts educators, Scottsdale Unified School District is able to offer a variety of arts learning opportunities through which students express themselves.  Congratulations, seniors, on this great accomplishment during your high school careers! 

In association with Scottsdale Public Library and the Scottsdale Artists’ School, the Scottsdale Sister Cities Association held its 35^th Annual Young Artist Competition this spring.  This international contest encourages youth to express their mission through original artwork.  The theme for this year’s contest was “Food Security in My Community.”  We are so proud of our talented SUSD artists, whose winning works were on display at the Civic Center Library during the month of April!

• 1^st place – Diana Lopez – For the Future – Acrylic – Desert Mountain HS (shown above)
• 2^nd place – Rodrigo Lopez – The Shine – Watercolor, Marker, Pastel – Desert Mountain HS
• 3^rd place – Shannon Norton – The Last Reach – Acrylic, Pencil – Chaparral HS
• 4^th place – T. Gretchen Bagby – The Prey – Watercolor, Color Pencil – Desert Mountain HS
• 5^th place – Lilia Zincenko – Fairytale Becomes Reality – Acrylic, Color Pencil – Desert Mountain HS
• Honorable Mention – Finley MacNeil – The Water Guardians – Watercolor, Pastel, Pen – Desert Mountain HS
• Honorable Mention – Gabrielle Grossman – Feed the World – Color Pencil, Acrylic – Chaparral HS

Congratulations, as well, to Desert Mountain’s Anne Wilkins and Chaparral’s Carson Bilger, under whose instruction these students’ artistic talents have blossomed!

Our high school bands and orchestras competed at State Competitions during the final weeks of April.  Let’s give a huge shout-out to all of our competing ensembles for not only competing against the top bands and orchestras throughout the state at the Arizona State Concert Band Competition, State Orchestra Competition, and State Jazz Competitions, but succeeding spectacularly!

State Jazz Festival

• Arcadia HS Jazz Ensemble – Excellent with Recognition
• Chaparral HS Jazz Ensemble I – Superior with Distinction
• Chaparral HS Jazz Ensemble II – Excellent
• Saguaro HS Jazz Ensemble – Excellent
  
  

State Concert Festival (Band and Orchestra)

• Arcadia HS Symphonic Wind Ensemble – Excellent
• Saguaro HS Wind Ensemble – Excellent
• Chaparral HS Concert Band – Excellent with Recognition
• Arcadia HS String Orchestra – Excellent
• Arcadia HS Chamber Orchestra – Excellent

High School Musical characters Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez would be very proud of SUSD’s high school theatre students:  the performances, actors and behind-the-scenes crews of three of our schools are nominated for 2023 ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Awards!

The annual program recognizes and celebrates Valley high school students and faculty who perform in and support musical theatre productions we see on our high school stages. Over the course of the school year, schools are adjudicated in 14 performance and tech categories.  The awards ceremony takes place on Saturday, May 27^th at ASU Gammage.  The ceremony, which features snippets from this year’s productions, gets underway at 7 p.m.

Here are the SUSD finalists this year:

Best Musical

• Chaparral High School – Into the Woods
• Desert Mountain High School – Pippin
• Saguaro High School – Beauty and the Beast
  

Best Lead Male

• Chaparral High School – William Randles
• Desert Mountain High School – Morgan Taylor

Best Lead Female

• Chaparral High School –  Katelyn Karcher  

Best Supporting Male

• Chaparral High School – Gavin Hargis
• Saguaro High School –  Elliot Clancy

Best Supporting Female

• Desert Mountain High School – Sawyer Furio

Best Set and Props

• Chaparral High School Set and Props Team

Best Costumes

• Chaparral High School – Bridget Hayley

Best Hair & Makeup

• Chaparral High School Hair & Makeup Team

ASU Gammage Leadership Award

• Saguaro High School – Spencer Wareing

Excellence in Stage Management Award

• Saguaro High School – Gloria Boltz

As they say in the theatre world, “Break a leg!“

Tickets for the ceremony are now available at https://asugammage.com/shows-tickets/shows-events. 

Congratulations to Chaparral High School junior Callie Redman, whose drawing, Kitty Cat, took 3^rd Place in this year’s Congressional Art Competition for Arizona’s 1^st congressional district.  Her work will be on display at Rep. David Schweikert’s Scottsdale office.

 

Read more at The SUSD Source