From the lively music ensembles around campus to the larger-than-life charcoal murals, Arts Fest is a time to come together as a community to celebrate and enjoy students’ artistic accomplishments. This year marks Arts Fest 39th edition, making it one of Lakeside’s most prominent and anticipated traditions. However, as it quickly became clear to me from meetings with teachers and leaders of the arts department, Lakeside is in for a special treat this year.

Although the festival is a long-held tradition here on campus, it’s evolved into more than just a showcase — over the past few years, it’s become a community. For the first time ever this year, all students enrolled in a visual arts course — in both Middle and Upper School — will have their work showcased throughout the night. The goal of this was for all our promising young artists to get a chance to show their families, friends, and larger community what they have accomplished this year. Kyle Cook, a Drawing and Painting teacher, explained that because of this plethora of work, Arts Fest will “expand into new spaces — for example, integrating spaces like St. Nicks and the WCC.” Additionally, a semi-new aspect that will be implemented this year will be the outside sections. Cook commented with excitement about how the art will branch out into the courtyard, where there will be new tables and seating to make for a vibrant and festive outdoor environment. Similarly, the performing arts have expanded in the recent past. Alban Dennis, one of the theater department’s beloved teachers, has been a part of Arts Fest for 17 years. Clearly a seasoned veteran, he has watched Arts Fest evolve into a space for all art, both performing and visual. He shared how at first, Arts Fest was “essentially a visual arts celebration to share works from those classes.” Then, throughout the years, the performing arts began to collaborate. Starting on the same small stage and finally expanding to the Chapel and beyond, performances from Orchestra, Choir, Jazz Band, and Drama have all found their place together throughout the night.

But what art will reach these new and exciting corners of campus? This year, each department has a variety of unique and interesting contributions to the festival. For ceramics and sculpture students, this looks like blending sculpting with a functional aquarium to make a never-before-seen creation: ecosystem bowls. Each bowl will have a whole world for Lakeside to observe, full of aquatic plants and fish. This serves as a great example of cross-disciplinary learning with both creativity and biology. Additionally, Drawing and Painting students have worked with new digital mediums this year, and plan to show the results of this through screen printed T-shirt designs or posters on the wall. On the side of performing arts, Mr. Dennis reports that drama classes will be sharing their one-minute films and other experimental films. He shared lots of enthusiasm about this project, saying that “this year’s films are creative and entertaining!” These short movies are part of the film festival that Lakeside is bringing back to Arts Fest this year. In general, most teachers shared how the motivation behind what they choose to show is prioritizing sharing original works with all of the community.

Lakeside is, without a doubt, a very accomplished school, with well-known athletes and countless STEM-based geniuses. However, this group of accomplished artists is a community too often forgotten and overshadowed. Because of this, Arts Fest is an amazing opportunity to give them their much-deserved recognition while simultaneously encouraging others to engage in the art community. Mr. Cook believes that art can be therapeutic and positive for everyone, regardless of the medium. “A large thing spoken about in the arts department is how to establish a culture around art,” he said, before continuing. “And once we’ve found that, we lean on that energy to give students a greater awareness of how art can feed your soul and make you a healthier and more aware person.”