Spring is known for the beauty, color and vibrancy it brings to our lives. Also, it means our students get to highlight their artistic abilities at our annual Spring Fine Art Showcase! This year was a major success, as we gathered at the Downtown Campus for Ecclesia, where we were treated to incredible student artwork and performances along with dazzling displays of creativity and talent. Together, it created a memorable celebration for the entire community.

From choreographed dance pieces to imaginative paintings, our showcase consisted of 215 student artists across 13 YES Prep campuses with over 200 guests in attendance! Our showcase provided students a great opportunity to share their passions with their peers as well as family members, teachers, faculty staff and other guests. We were beholden to some inspiring artwork from our rising artists in the making but also were given a glimpse into what’s to come for future showcases!

Expanding artwork beyond the classroom

Each year, our Showcase continues to grow in size, creating an opportunity for us to connect our students with the surrounding communities. This is largely thanks to YES Prep’s Career & Technical (CTE) Director Jessie Crandall and CTE Specialist, Craig Wisniewski. Wisniewski shared with us that this year was unique for a few reasons. “During the past three years, I have supported the event, but this is our first year centralizing the event to ensure we can collaborate with additional community groups to continue to grow this amazing event! As you can imagine, it truly takes an entire district to pull off an event like this and its only possible because of our amazing and dedicated Visual Arts and Dance teachers.”

Among those teachers is Parker Hernandez, a YES Prep Fifth Ward Secondary art teacher who represented several art students during the showcase. Hernandez acknowledged how the program has helped her students improve simply by receiving inspiration through other artists in YES Prep. “I appreciate the showcase because it's a great experience for our students to show and see other students' work,” Hernandez said. “It’s a great way for them to communicate with others and have that exposure for a real art show!”

The showcase experience

We always look forward to events such as the Spring Fine Art Showcase because it provides our students with an opportunity to demonstrate talents that may not necessarily emerge in an academic classroom. It is through these experiences that students are able to tap into their innate creativity and uncover hidden talents they may not have otherwise discovered.

Wisniewski shared that his most memorable moment was not one particular moment, but a series of small, intimate moments in which student artists and performers excitedly shared their work with attendees.

This is the real impact of an event such as this – providing students with authentic, real-world opportunities to share and engage in a discussion about their experiences.

Hernandez adding her personal thoughts as well, stating that her most memorable moment was seeing her students come by and see their artwork hanging up. “Seeing them smile and being so proud of their work was a special teacher moment.”

When students are given the chance to express themselves in a setting beyond the classroom, they can feel empowered, gain self-confidence and express themselves in new and exciting ways.

Looking ahead to 2024

As Crandall and Wisniewski continue to centralize and grow the Spring Fine Art Showcase, they are looking to potentially grow the student artist base to include work from our Digital Media students and student musicians as well to add new and improved live performances! By truly creating a student-centric event, our YES Prep students are taking ownership of the showcase and can use it as a launch pad to their careers even before reaching graduation. We’re excited to see the growth of our Spring Art Showcase and thank you to all our staff, students and community members who make it all possible.

If you would like to know more about our Visual Arts program, please click here: YES Prep Visual Arts Program.

For questions about the Spring Fine Art Showcase, please email craig.wisniewski@yesprep.org or jessie.crandall@yesprep.org.