From Tuesday, February 26 to Wednesday, February 27, artwork from students all across the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) was displayed at the annual Festival of the Arts at Magnolia Junior High. This allowed students from elementary school to high school to show off their hard work and creativity.
Because this event was a district wide event, along with students from different elementary, junior high, and high schools, some of our very own students from Ayala High School were able to be recognized during this showcase. Individually chosen for their exceptional artwork by their teachers, students were able to show off their creativity and wow the community members that decided to attend.
“It felt pretty good because I like seeing how people react to [my artwork] and how they get excited about the different [elements],” Fiorella Arbolena Yanez (11) said.
During the art show, attendees were able to walk around and look at the vibrant and unique art pieces from students in the district. Along with this, there was a band performance by band programs from different junior high schools and high schools to demonstrate the importance of performing arts as well as visual arts with their beautiful melodies.
This showcase was perfect for students who feel a special connection with creativity and art. The acknowledgement of the beauty and hardwork that comes with creating art is important because it shows that art can be another option for students and that schoolwork does not always have to be the most important thing in someone’s life.
“Art is the perfect avenue for individual, unique creative expression, whereas in other subjects, you’re sort of left to repeat knowledge that is already known,” Art teacher Mr. Sergio Robleto said. “Art gives you the opportunity to express newfound knowledge, newfound insights, and extensions of the mind that just don’t exist in the book and only in the person.”
Not only does this event give students confidence in their art abilities from everyone looking at their work, it also inspires them to improve their work. When students get the recognition that their artwork is good, it inspires them to want to strive for more of that validation by adding new skills to their pieces.
“[Seeing my artwork] makes me feel definitely more motivated to work, to improve my art more just to think, ‘Oh yeah, people are seeing this,’ [and] I’m happy with it, but I’m not satisfied and I want to do more to work, so that people will be able to see more in my art and that it can express things,” Kirra Allen (9) said.
The different art pieces from the students from all different schools, are unique and show the skill and creativity within every student. The importance that these students get recognized is immense as they improve their work and find their own voice through their art.
“For the students that are in the show, they should understand that they earned it because they created something that was excellent, well thought-out, creative, and unique to the point where it needed to be shared and it needed to be recognized,” Robleto said.
