Classrooms around Red Deer are fanning the flames of creativity during Alberta Arts Days this week.
At Hunting Hills High School on Friday, Rhonda Gillrie will work with students on dance, Tanya Schur, with Drumocracy, will lead students in drumming workshops and Susan Woolgar will work with students on an art project. Cosmetology and drama students will work with makeup artist Joanne Jacobsen.
Arts Days kick off at the Hunting Hills with the Drum Line group, with lunch hour activities including caricatures being done by art students, a potter’s wheel demonstration, a band performance and a makeup demonstration.
Kevin Robertson, a vice-principal at Hunting Hills, said it’s important that the school focuses on all of the areas of student interest, including academics, athletics and the arts.
An evening concert, which is open to the public, will take place in the gathering area of Hunting Hills on Friday at 7 p.m. It will feature former Hunting Hills High School students Lisa Heinrichs and Erin Glover, as well as the Jill Hagen Band. Tickets are available for $10 at the door or in advance at the school’s main office.
At Notre Dame High School in Red Deer, local poet Kimmy Beach will talk to English classes, performer Starlise Waschuk will work with students on dance and Lisa Ward will talk to musical theatre students. Jewelry artist Donna Matolsci will also showcase pewter casting for students.
Jonas Marchinko, visual art teacher and fine arts department head at Notre Dame High School, said it’s wonderful that the province and the city have designated a few days to celebrate the arts because there are such talented students in many different artistic disciplines in the city.
At Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School, choir students will greet their classmates in the morning by singing an African piece at the main entrance and students will wear ceramic pendants and T-shirts they designed. International baccalaureate art students will work on a mural and a West African dance clinician from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary will hold workshops in the drama studio. A lunch-hour concert, featuring Red Deer College music faculty, is set for the Lindsay Thurber cafeteria.
“The arts are the language of the world and of civilization. We know that research shows that students who have exposure and experience in the arts tend to do better in other classes, they’re better communicators, they’re creative and they learn how to creatively problem solve, which is an important skill in our day and time,” said Trina Penner, the drama and dance teacher at Lindsay Thurber.
Among some of the other Arts Days activities at schools, Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett will drop by on students at Annie L. Gaetz School, a clay workshop with Dawn Candy is set for Grade 4 and 5 students at Grandview School on Friday and numerous middle school students will have the chance to see Calgary-based Sun Ergos perform Clever Cherries on Friday.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com