As each school year comes to a close, RMA has the wonderful opportunity to showcase its students’ talents during the Spring Arts Festival. Lower School students get to perform in a musical at the Dunn Center at North Carolina Wesleyan on Thursday, May 2nd at 6 pm, and marvelous art pieces created by Upper, Middle, and Lower School students throughout the year are already on display on our campus.

Visual art is a major component of Spring Arts, so we have all kinds of art–drawings, painting, ceramics, etc.–set out for everyone to enjoy. Lower and Middle School art teacher Mrs. Miniard has projects on display in Bradley Hall, which contains the works of students in grades Pre-K through 5, 7th grade, and all of our EC classes. Several classes made oil pastel drawings based on their study of Vincent Van Gogh, and in a wonderful display of creativity inspired by artist Dan Reeders, all classes came together to make a marvelous life-size aquarium populated by sea creatures made from papier mâché and clay. Each class was assigned a fish, starfish, or turtle to make, and when they were all finished, they combined their work to make the truly impressive aquarium in Bradley Hall. There are countless other works to see in Bradley Hall as well. Each Lower School student has two or three pieces from the year presented, and for Middle School students, Mrs. Miniard chose their best work from each trimester. Altogether, there is a medley of creations to see: watercolor paintings, tempera paintings, clay structures, papier mâché art, oil pastel drawings, and colored pencil drawings. We sure are glad to have such a fabulous group of students able to work in so many different mediums!

Mrs. Hunter is showing Upper School students’ pieces in Proctor Hall, where you can see art from each of her classes: Art I, II, III, and IV; Ceramics I, II, III, and IV; Sculpting; and Digital Photography. The plethora of artwork includes clay sculptures/ceramics, photographs, graphite drawings, and acrylic paintings (both landscapes and portraits). All students get to have their art displayed, but a couple of exceptionally skilled student artists should be recognized here: senior Gabe Henderson, who has his AP Art portfolio (inspired by horror films) displayed, and junior Nicolas Du Pont, who has his AP Digital Photography portfolio (concentrated on astrophotography, which is photography of the night sky) on display. Update, as of Monday, May 6th, most Upper School art has been removed, but can still be viewed online here.

Art is not only about creating visual pieces but also acting and singing; this year’s musical, Seussical Jr., brings art to the Dunn Center stage. Directed by Lower School music teacher Mrs. Pittman, Seussical Jr. combines several Dr. Seuss books and their characters all into one story featuring iconic characters like the Cat in the Hat and Horton the Elephant, played by 5th graders Brady Moore and Davis Cobb, respectively. Other characters include Mr. and Mrs. Mayor, (played by 4th graders Dunn Miniard and Mia Lancfranchi), JoJo (5th grader Jack Lea), and Sour Kangaroo (5th grader Ava Davis-Pittman). Almost all of the hour-long show is sung, with only a few lines of dialogue being spoken in between musical numbers. With all of the preparations they have made throughout the school year–auditions were open for 1st – 5th graders in September!–Seussical Jr. will bring childhood magic to the stage.

This impressive work by the music and art departments reminds us to stay creative in order to cultivate our minds and hearts. Make sure to visit the Dunn Center at North Carolina Wesleyan for Seussical Jr. on May 2nd at 6 PM, and be sure to look around you as you visit RMA, as there might be wonderful art nearby!