Arts gala featuring student work

Trevor Busch
Vauxhall Advance
tbusch@tabertimes.com

Local elementary and high school students will be celebrating visual and performing art achievements at the 4th Annual Visual and Performing Arts Gala on March 16.

Hosted at Vauxhall Elementary School, the evening will commence at 6:30 p.m. for the visual art viewing portion.

“So we bring in visual arts — anything from painting, sketching, sculpting, some kids do work with fabric, with wood, anything that they’ve created themselves, and we set up an art gallery in our gymnasium,” said organizer Lori-Jo Barnes.

“For the first part of the evening, it’s all visual arts in an art gallery format It’s a semi-formal evening, so our Grade 6’s will serve hors d’oeuvres and sparkling juice, and we’ll have a violinist that plays, and people can peruse the gallery for about 45 minutes to an hour to start the evening off. That’s art from Kindergarten to Grade 12.”

Following a short break, the performing arts portion of the evening will commence at 7:15 p.m. with an exciting line-up of student performers.

“We have performers from Kindergarten — I’ve got a Kindergarten vocalist this year — through to Grade 12 performing this year,” said Barnes.

“Everything from singing, to playing solo piano, a beat-boxer, the Vauxhall High School Rock Band program, and they’re going to be performing two numbers.”

Tickets for the event are $5 per adult, and students for $3. Prospective attendees are reminded there is an age restriction for the event for children under the age of five years.

All proceeds are to go to the Vauxhall Pool to help with modernization efforts.

“Last year we raised $1,000 for Wounded Warriors, a post-traumatic stress outfit that we supported,” said Barnes. “So I’m hoping for a $1,000 again this year, that’s my goal.”

Barnes was enthusiastic about the benefits of students becoming involved in visual or performing arts as a component of their education.

“I’m a musician by trade, so I just think it’s another part of their academic upbringing that they experience the arts. We know it’s good for brain development, and allow kids to create, and maybe to have another outlet they might not otherwise have. It’s so good for mental health, we know that, and just watching them create, and the camaraderie they have when they get together and they create, and they support each other. They have something else to celebrate that they can excel at. So anything that we can pull out of them that they can excel at, and have them feel better about that, is important I think.”

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