Art show celebrates visual and performing arts

A student admires the sculpture display that involved multiple grade levels from Simmons Elementary School.

Hatboro-Horsham School District held its K-12 art show, featuring both the visual and performing arts, on May 9 at Hatboro-Horsham High School (HHHS), the same night as the high school’s spring band and jazz band concert.

“Parents of both artists and band students could double dip. They could watch their children perform and walk around to look at their art too,” said Leah Ellert, art teacher and art department chair at HHHS.

In the art gallery, high school art was on display, featuring projects from painting, drawing, ceramics, digital art, jewelry, photography and technology education classes. There also were more family consumer science projects this year, including from sewing and cooking labs. The work chosen by students and teachers best showcased student growth and skills. Additionally, AP art students showcased their entire portfolios in the show as an homage to their advanced talent and hard work.

To combine the visual with performing arts, Ellert coordinated with the district’s music departments. Third through eighth grade musicians performed in the auxiliary gym where their art was displayed while high school musicians performed in the art gallery.

“We had so many musicians participate this year, and many of them were also artists in the show; it was special to celebrate their numerous talents all in one place” said Ellert.

A highlight of the night was the live artist demonstrations in digital art, painting, drawing, ceramics and jewelry making. There was even a father-daughter demonstration in ceramics. Neal Yanoff, father, was throwing on the wheel while his daughter, Lilyan Yanoff, sat next to him and built up the sculpture with her hands.

National Art Honor Society students ran the live demos as well as the family activities including face painting, caricatures and a photo booth.

Although art is often a solo act, there were many collaborative pieces for the community to view. There was a sculptural display that involved multiple grade levels from Simmons Elementary School, and a middle school project that a multitude of students worked on throughout the year.

“There was collaboration not only with the student artists, but also with new teachers, returning teachers, the administrative office and more,” said Ellert, who highlighted that three of the nine art teachers were new this year. “For one-third of the group to have never been a part of our district show before, it was exciting to see how engaged they were to make the art show a success. The dedication of our HHSD art teachers is exemplified by the beauty and collaboration seen here tonight.”

Ellert wondered if the success of last year’s art show with booming numbers couldn’t be replicated, but she found that wasn’t the case with so much support from parents and the district.

“The art show wasn’t just a one-hit wonder; this is a valued community event. Even with the rain, hundreds of people were here to support the arts,” she said.