Arts Festival Week 2023

April 14 - April 21

Solebury School celebrates the arts every spring with a week-long festival, capped off with an Arts and Earth Day celebration on the final day. 

Friday, April 14

Jazz Roots/Rock Band kicked off Arts Festival with a fantastic concert! 
 

Sunday, April 16

A group of student musicians spent the day at Morning Star Recording, working with grammy winning engineer Glenn Baratt to record a demo. 
 

Monday, April 17 

Allie Bentley taught a figure drawing lesson on how to draw the human head. She has exhibited nationwide, with solo exhibitions in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and San Diego. Allie is represented by the Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, and Jo Fleming Contemporary Art in Annapolis, MD. She teaches Figure Drawing and Drawing at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD.
 

Tuesday, April 18

Students in Rock Band had an amazing workshop about meditation and music as it relates to improvisation with Jarrett Gilgore! Jarrett is a multi-instrumentalist, improviser, composer, and teacher. 

Film students were joined by Hollywood insider Alison Bennett. An Emmy-nominated writer/producer for television and film. She is currently Co-Executive Producer for an upcoming Netflix show and writing a feature for SONY.  Alison just spent five years on an overall deal at 20th Television, where she was staffed on shows like “Single Parents” (ABC), “LA to Vegas” (FOX), and the Children’s & Family Emmy-nominated “Doogie Kamealoha, MD” (Disney+). Throughout her deal, Alison also developed and supervised pilots for networks under the Disney umbrella. Prior to Alison’s time at 20th, she wrote for the first four seasons of FXX's critically acclaimed comedy "You’re The Worst." Other TV credits include "The Awesomes" (Hulu) and "Betas" (Amazon Studios). 

Congratulations to STC: In Residence for their outstanding performances at the Bucks County Playhouse Student Theater Festival! Solebury School won three awards. The Sock and Buskin Award for outstanding performances in comedy (Firebringer) and drama (#ENOUGH), the Creative Advocacy Award for their work on #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence, and Kaz Jahanbini ’25 won the Spotlight Award for Outstanding Character Work in Firebringer. 
 

Wednesday, April 19

City Slang recording artist, Pom Pom Squad played during assembly.

Flutist Anna Cristina Tang Sung '23 was featured during the Young Artist Concert Series with Kim Harris on piano and special guests Leel Dias '23, Greg Lipscomb, and Cathy Block.
 

 

 

Thursday, April 20: Workshop Day!

This year's workshops were hosted by professionals, as well as enthusiasts from our own community (teachers, alumni, students, and a parent). They featured:

  • Beginning Salsa Dance Workshop with world-champion ballroom dancer Sharonne Vinokurov
    Sharonne Vinokurov taught a beginner Salsa class. Students learned the basics of dancing Salsa on 1/LA Style. 

  • Cartooning with cartoonist and multimedia artist Griff Jurchak 
    Griff uses visual language pulled from comics, advertising, surrealism, and graffiti to process and convey the absurdity of modern life. He has a BFA in Visual Art and Writing from Marlboro College.

  • Carving out a Space with Ceramic Artist Salvatore Annunziato 
    Director of Woodkiln operations / Artist residency program, Lancaster Creative Factory, Salvatore discussed making a sustainable living as an artist and shared his experience exploring different approaches to creating an art practice that both feels good and generates a livable wage. All while helping you to make your own handmade vase or object.

  • Tie Dye with Maddy Cunningham ’23 and Clara Borthwick ’23
    Maddy and Clara taught the finer points of tie-dye with cool twists and lots of colors, and a little color theory in practice.

  • Crochet with Solebury Parent Relations Manager Lisa Juris 
    Lisa taught how to get started crocheting, giving directions for a small project participants could start and take with them. 

  • Pinhole Camera Photography with Solebury Photography Teacher Kelli Abdoney
    A Pinhole photo is a direct process. Participants put photographic paper in a lightproof box, and then took their pinhole camera outside where they exposed the film to light by lifting the cover off of the “pinhole”. After that, the magic began when they developed their image. The images appeared on their blank white paper right before their eyes! 

  • Playwriting with Solebury Technical Director Titus O’Neil
    Participants discussed standard play formatting and the elements of what makes a great story, then put it into practice by writing a 3-5 minute scene.

  • DEI Mosaic Setting with Allison Tes ’24
    Participants worked with Allison to set the mural created during DEI day. 

  • Introduction to Graphic Design with Jen
    Have you ever wondered how all those cool logos are made? Or wondered how a laser cutter works? Come join this hands-on session and learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create your very own personal logo. Maybe make something fun on the laser cutter?

  • Record Book with Rebecca Kelly
    Students worked with Rebecca to create a cool rock and roll book from old vinyl records. 

  • Henna Tattoos with Samantha Kitchen ’24
    Samantha gave a brief introduction to historical Mehndie and the uses of henna. Participants then designed their own henna tattoo.

  • Zentangle w/ Subooha Zafar P’26
    Subooha demonstrated the art of meditative drawing, zentangle.

  • Color Forecasting with Laura Williams P’24
    Color forecasting is the practice of predicting the colors and color stories that consumers will want to purchase in the near future. Laura taught how it works, who is involved, and how it is used.  

  • Cake Decorating with Solebury’s Cari Nelson P’24 and Lori Davis
    Participants channeled their inner great British bake-off dreams.

  • Paint your own skate deck with Solebury Athletic Trainer Caitlin Miller
    Caitlin helped students create their very own skateboard deck using Sharpie markers, paint pens, and acrylic paints.

  • Hirschfeld with David Leopold
    David took us on a tour of the Hirschfeld Century, an 82-year era in which Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) recorded and defined so much of popular culture, especially through his drawings of productions on Broadway and in Hollywood.

Elite Ensemble provided a lovely evening of music. Concert attendees enjoyed works by Joseph Bologne, Edward Elgar, Duke Ellington, Joe Hisaishi, Justin Bieber, and Leonard Cohen. 
 

Friday, April 21

We ended the week with an Art and Earth Day Community Celebration. Solebury families joined us to enjoy live music and poetry, admire and purchase student crafts and artwork, and spruce up their gardens with items from the plant sale.

Solebury Theater Collective (STC) presented a staged reading of #Enough: Plays to End Gun Violence. This powerful collection of short plays was written by high school students from across the country, exploring the impact of gun violence on individuals, families, and communities. STC raised $740 in donations for Everytown, an organization that works tirelessly to prevent gun violence and promote gun safety. This would not have been possible without your generous support and commitment to this crucial cause.

Enjoy photos from the week: