Percussion Outreach at UAMS

A select group of Intermediate and Advanced percussion students will be traveling to UAMS on December 3rd to perform a Christmas concert for patients and their families.  The steel band concert will take place from 12pm-12:45pm and will feature a number of Christmas favorites, as well as a demonstration and hands-on opportunity for the patients.  We would like to thank Erin Gray and the UAMS Volunteer Services office for inviting us to come and play.  

The Middle School and Upper School theatre program performs The Diviners this weekend!  Come see our students tackle this powerful play!  Performances are Thursday, 11/14 and Saturday, 11/16 at 7:00pm, and Friday, 11/15 at 4:30pm.  Admission is $5 for students and $10 for adults. 

Steel Band Performs at ASO "Beethoven and Blue Jeans"

Join the Episcopal Steel Band for a tailgate party with the Arkansas Symphony this weekend!  The Steelcats will be performing before each of the ASO’s Beethoven and Blue Jeans concerts, Saturday 6pm – 7:30pm and Sunday 1pm – 2:30pm.  Any ticket to the ASO concert grants free entry to the tailgate party and all the festivities. Markham street will be blocked off, pit-masters will be cooking up brats and Diamond Bear will be providing refreshments for the adults.  Join us for a great time with the Arkansas Symphony! Call the ASO box office at 666-1761 for tickets and more information.

Percussion Studio Update: October 2013

Percussion Students with Guests Norman Weinberg
and Rick Dimond

Percussion Studio Update:  October 2013

The weather is cooling off but the percussion class and steel band performance schedule is just starting to heat up!  The steel band has already performed at a Hendrix College football game, given a concert performance at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in North Little Rock, and partied with the crowd at the Heights Third Thursday celebration.  Dr. Norman Weinberg visited all the percussion classes for a week-long residency in September, culminating with a beautiful performance of Toru Takemitsu's Raintree.  Below is a list of our upcoming performances.  We hope you can make plans to join us!  

1. Friday, October 25th and November 8th, 7pm:  Introduction and Beginning Classes perform at the home football games.  Come help us cheer on the Wildcats!
2. Thursday, October 31st, 9:20am:  Beginning and Introduction to Percussion classes will perform in MS/US Chapel.  We will feature our African Drumming ensembles.  You don't want to miss it!
3. Wednesday, November 6th, 10:45am:  Introduction to Percussion class gives a "Hands-On" chapel performance at the  Lower School.  Lower School students will enjoy playing African djembes, shekeres, gankogui (double bell) and other fantastic instruments, as well as getting on stage to sing and dance.  
4. Saturday-Sunday, November 9th and 10th:  Steel Band performs at Arkansas Symphony Beethoven and Blue Jeans tailgate party; 6-7:30pm Saturday, 1-2:30pm Sunday.  Tailgating has never been so much fun!
5. Tuesday, December 3rd, 12pm:  Steel Band performs Christmas music at UAMS for patients and families with a lunch-time concert! 

We hope to see you soon!

Harvestfest 2013 Homes for Haiti Sale

Episcopal students helping customers

Our ornaments

We have amazing, dedicated, passionate, smart students at Episcopal Collegiate School and we prove it all the time.  Harvestfest was no exception.  Under the student leadership of Junior Riley Blair we secured a booth at Harvestfest to help us sell our colorful Homes for Haiti.  Three shifts of over 25 student volunteers from our middle school and high school worked our booth.

We had a great crowd and students helped by steering customers into our booth and other students told people about our project.  We shared how long we have been raising money for Haiti and how we created our pins and ornaments.  Everyone was impressed by how articulate our students spoke about the project and how passionate they were about the work. 

Harvestfest 2013 Homes for Haiti Booth

We learned how to explain our project, engage people to listen to what we had to say about our project, and sell our pins and ornaments. We had straight donations from customers because they appreciated the hard work we have done to help Haiti. We also received invitations to sell our pins at other events, so our good work can continue. 

 As the art teacher for this"little project" , I am so proud of how well the students represented Episcopal Collegiate School.  The warmth and genuine passion each student demonstrated to help Haiti was truly heartwarming.   We raised $1,288.25 for the Clinton Haiti Relief Fund.

Mr. Carr sharing in the days events

Our students engaged the crowd and we had faculty swing by to see us doing our work.  Mr. Carr, Mrs. Dowell, Mrs. Blair and her husband, Mrs. Bridges, Ms. Hazell and her fiancé, Mr. Whittlesey, Mrs. Honeywell and her husband with pup Daphne too. Mr. and Mrs. Kinder made a special trip to come by with the kids.  It was a great day.  I would like to thank Mrs. Ware for the card table and Mr. and Mrs. Blair for the tent, plus Mrs. Dowell for helping to set up the tent.  I would also like to thank my husband for bring us breakfast bars and cold water bottles.  We have a great community at Episcopal Collegiate School.

Wonderful work created by Episcopal Collegiate School artists at Paves the Way Hosted by The Thea Foundation

On Saturday, September 14th at 8:30 AM a group of Episcopal Collegiate School students gathered on the Clinton Presidential Library lawn.  Middle and Upper School students reviewed the sketch created by Senior Celeste Jennings to begin the chalk mural.  Students who had experience at side walk chalk art mentored the less experienced artists and the work began.

We worked in smaller groups at first to fill in the colors to bring our designs together.

Soon the mural burst into color to express our theme.  "We Danced, We United,and We had Peace and that's all that Matters."  Keith Haring figures danced across our mural along with colorful leaves, bubbles, and stars.  Our mural started in the city, went global, back to the country, then into space, and finally under the sea.

Mr. and Mrs. Stein stopped by with the dogs to cheer us on!!!

Thank you to our Seniors for your leadership and guidance.

We had several visitors stop by to see what we created.

  Thank you for sharing in our enthusiasm for Paves the Way.

The work has started and results are showing already.

Please come and see some of our finished works on display in the Upper School.

  Our large collaborative painting is hanging in the US commons area along with our graphic design Signs for our school community.    

Painting Class

Kahry Wright

The drawing class has been exploring and learning about line, value, space, and movement.  Our charcoal compositions demonstrates our understanding of space and are on the wall on your way to the US library. We have several beautiful still life drawings hanging inside the US library, the still life drawings were inspired by Paul Cezanne.

Ivy Cox

Rainey Jones

Stay tuned for more wonderful works on display in the Upper School showcasing our Visual Artists.