Fine Arts Newsletter - 2022-23 school year
Fine Arts Year-in-Review
As the 2022-23 academic year comes to a close, the Fine Arts Council would like to take the opportunity to highlight the various fine arts opportunities Sacred Heart students were able to participate in during the year. Thank you for celebrating the arts with us!
ADVANCED CHORUS & GLEE CLUB
Both music groups consist of enthusiastic Middle School students that love to sing. They have performed throughout the year, at Northwestern University presenting the national anthem, at our January Middle School music concert, and most recently at Gallery Night.
THEATER PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP
Theater Performance Workshop is a musical theater opportunity designed to build a student’s exposure to and skills in theater performance. It is open to 4th through 8th grade students. This past November, the group performed a variety of musical theater songs from various shows including The Prom, Grease, Beetlejuice, Pippin and Into the Woods. The performance took place at The Den Theater in Wicker Park.
LICKITY SPLIT CONTEST
This past Fall the school held an art contest for Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade students. Students were asked to create a drawing using "Elf on the Shelf" as the theme. The winning artworks were displayed on the walls at Lickity Split on Broadway from Thanksgiving into January and each winner received a gift certificate to the store. See the winning entries here.
school musical
This year Seussical, the Musical! was added to the list of musicals our talented students have masterfully performed. 150 Students in the 1st through 8th grade were excited to take the center stage as well as run our backstage to present our first ever All-Campus Musical. Congratulations to the staff, students and parents who helped make this incredible production happen!
Past School Musicals:
2022 - Anastasia! The Musical
2021- Little Women
2020- Mathilda
2019- Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
intro to photography class
New this year, 3rd through 8th graders experimented with different lighting scenarios and backgrounds to create unique images which were featured at Gallery Night. Alexis Goettsch A'87, a Sacred Heart alum, parent and professional photographer specializing in portraits, lead the class in how to capture a thousand words in a single frame.
FAMILY FUN WITH FINE ARTS
The Fine Arts Council offered two family field trips – fall and spring – this school year. Sacred Heart students and families were treated to these unique opportunities to gather together and experience the arts in our greater community.
Day at Driehaus Museum
Students and families enjoyed a special morning at the Driehaus Museum, downtown Chicago, that included tours of the exhibit Capturing Louis Sullivan and the chance for students to design their own room interiors through crafting.
Greektown Odyssey
Sacred Heart families gathered at the National Hellenic Museum, downtown Chicago, to tour the exhibition Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography by Diane Alexander with the artist herself! Afterwards, those interested in continuing the journey, enjoyed Greek sweets and coffee at Artopolis Bakery.
alumni in the arts
Many Sacred Heart graduates continue their artistic passions when they leave campus. Whether it's high school theater, community theater, or band performances, we love to share how our alums are still pursuing their love of the arts:
Henry J. H'19 will be graduating from Jones College Prep and continuing on the student Theater at Northwestern University. Henry and alum, Wyatt P. H’21, are both members of the United Voices choir and appeared on Saturday Night Live singing with Columbian artist Karol G.
Alex Good A’15 is will be graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in Theater.
Maya Moravec A’14 was recently on campus while conducting research on an upcoming production of a film set in a 1950s Sacred Heart school in upstate New York. Maya has her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tish School for Dramatic Arts.
Grace Parker A’10 is an NYC-based playwright, actor and producer with a BFA in Drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Claire Scanlon A’85 is an Emmy and American Cinema Editors Award winning director. She most recently directed Loot for Apple TV, Abbott Elementary and Not Dead Yet for ABC, and the upcoming series Mrs. American Pie on Apple TV.
Erin Reeves Denk A’77 studied communications at DePaul University and earned a master’s in art therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Erin was hired as the first art therapist for a pioneering research unit for Dissociative Disorders at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s at Sheridan Road Hospital in 1987. She has had a long and varied career as an art therapist.
AFTER SCHOOL MUSIC LESSONS
The Core After School program offers one-on-one piano lessons to all grades, guitar lessons and private voice lessons for 1st through 8th grades. This year at Gallery Night, the students held their recitals. It was wonderful to listen to the progress of seasoned students and witness the excitement of the first-time performers. To learn more about private lessons, please reach out to Katie Moss.
JUSTICE EVENING & JUSTICE DAY
The Fine Art Council once again had the privilege of helping with the production of Justice Evening and Justice Day. One of the many things that makes a Sacred Heart education so unique is that it is not only provides an academic education, but an emphasis on social justice education as well. The questions of "what is going on around me?" and "how can I help?" are always being discussed. Sacred Heart recognizes that the arts are a powerful medium to express and convey social justice themes. This year attendees were treated to a performance by Collaboraction Theater’s youth ensemble The Light and a moderated discussion on using art for social change at Justice Evening, followed by storytelling, role playing, poetry and song through the theme "The Power of Words" on Justice Day. Images were captured throughout Justice Day to create this wonderful video set to the song “Stand Up”, an earlier project created by Mr. Nixon and Middle School students.
yearbook submissions
Each year the school holds an art contest for the yearbook cover. The winners were announced in January at the Middle School Assembly. Congratulations to Sophie A., A7 and Athena C., A7 for their winning designs! Second place went to Maedot A., A8. Maedot’s artwork will be the cover of next year's assignment notebooks.
TALENT SHOW
The Sacred Heart Talent Show returned this year, showcasing our magnificently talented students! This year’s show featured student hosts and emcees and a variety of acts. Comedic groups and individuals had the audience laughing. People were dancing in their seats and in the aisles alongside the students who danced and did gymnastics on stage. And our multiple singers and musicians blew everyone away with their musical gifts. It was celebration of talent and joy!
gallery night
The Sacred Heart hallways transformed into a gallery space as friends and families walked an artful path among the student artwork and enjoyed the harmonies sung by our Lower School Liturgical Choir, Glee Club, Advance Choir and featured alumni and participations of voice, guitar and piano lessons. The night was complete with a Scavenger Hunt featuring art from Sacred Heart’s permanent art collection. Student artwork can be viewed via Artsonia. A huge thank you to the parent volunteers who helped hang the art. The night would not have been possible without your support!
POETRY CONTEST
The Fine Arts Council kicked off the month of April with a celebratory poetry contest. Open to students, faculty, staff and parents, we are pleased to announce the winner of this year’s contest is…
Mirabelle R., A2 - Litter isn't Glitter!
Click on the poem above to hear Meg Steele, Head of Schools, read it aloud.
Honorable Mention: Ian M., H7
We are very small
But the things in our hearts
Could fill up the sky
When we love as you love
We can touch the sky
About this newsletter
This annual newsletter is sponsored by the Sacred Heart Fine Arts Council. The Council began as a parent-driven group designed to coordinate efforts to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. on Justice Day.
Subsequently, the Fine Arts Council has evolved into an amazing collaboration between parents and faculty and staff that celebrate the arts. From Justice Day to Gallery Night to Fine Arts Month, the Council seeks to bring awareness and arts opportunities to the Sacred Heart community on and off campus.