Jayden Butt played guitar at the St. Kevin’s High School special arts exhibition last week, including a cover of Metallica’s “Pulling Teeth,” a deep cut from their 1983 debut album. Submitted photo.
By Mark Squibb / June 9, 2023
St. Kevin’s High students were given an opportunity to share their artistic talents and abilities with their friends and families last Thursday night as the school hosted it’s second annual ‘Evening of the Arts’ exhibition.
“It’s a really awesome event, and a chance for students to really showcase their skills and talents,” said art teacher Tracy Nixon. “And the best part for me is seeing students faces when the pieces all go up, and their families come visit, and everyone can really share in their joys and their accomplishments.”
Nixon came up with the idea to host an exhibit last year because she was frustrated that so many of the students’ art projects are hidden away in classrooms and not displayed openly for others to enjoy.
“There’s so much creativity within the school, and as an art teacher it’s so hard, because students do their art projects, but then they don’t get to share them with anyone,” said Nixon. “And so, I wanted to showcase the students’ art, and I thought, ‘What better way to do it than combine it with music and drama as well?’”
Nixon tucks away each of her student’s art pieces from the very beginning of the school year and saves them for the end-of-year display gallery.
The artworks, well over 500 pieces of original art all told, went on display at 6 p.m., Thursday evening in the school’s gymnasium. Amongst the many pieces were glass mosaics, pieces of embossed metals, portraits and landscapes in pencil, children’s books written and designed by students, stained glass, cross stitch keychains, and toilet paper food sculptures (yes, you read that right, and yes, they look delicious.)
Following the gallery viewing, the performance arts portion of the evening kicked off at 7 p.m.
The evening’s show featured students exhibiting a wide array of musical talents as the Concert Band, Concert Choir, and individual students performed the music of contemporary artists such as Metallica, Joni Mitchell, Miley Cyrus, Loretta Lynn, and ABBA, as well as of classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy. Interspersed between musical performances were scenes from Free Trial, a drama written by St. Kevin’s High teacher Greg White which recently won a number of awards at the Provincial Theatre Arts Festival.
There was plenty of behind-the-scenes work to make the evening a success, from rehearsals to poster design to set up, but Nixon said the students are eager to get involved and help however they can, and they take great pride in their accomplishments.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for students to try something new, and showcase some of their hidden skills and talents,” said Nixon. “And some of my students do perform outside of the school, but it’s nice to give that opportunity to them within the school for inclusivity, to offer diversity, and to show the different types of programming that the school does offer… Not only do we get to celebrate the students, but the students get to celebrate themselves, and really get to applaud. And we really do get to include everyone, which is fabulous.”
