Every spring, as the end of the school year approaches, Columbia Heights Public Schools (CHPS) holds its beloved Expressions Arts Showcase at Silverwood Park’s Visitor Center in St. Anthony Village. This year’s exhibit took place from May 21 to May 22, decorating the center with a variety of artworks displayed from Pre-K to 12th-grade student artists, highlighting their creative art projects and awards received for their work. The two days also consisted of performances from both the band and choir students here from various grade levels at Heights. With all the hard work and dedication our students put into all the extraordinary artwork and music, many couldn’t wait to attend Expressions!
The art gallery in both the main hall and near the cafe included all kinds of mediums from ceramic pieces to canvas portraits, detailed pencil drawings to mixed media works and more. Each work featured a tag that both credited the artist by name and grade as well as the title, giving the proceedings a distinguished, professional feel. Many of the pieces were also rightly acknowledged for their achievements in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, a long-standing nationally judged contest that opens doors for young artists alike to be recognized.
“It was an absolutely wonderful experience! This masterful display showcased our success as a community in the arts, with creative illustrations, pottery, and paintings decorating the walls,” Olivia Candella (12) said. “Seeing the progression of their art, from elementary school to high school, makes me hopeful for our future artists, with the promise of improvement paving the way.”
Bustling in frenzies, rows of seating lined the main hall for viewers to watch the performances. On day one, students from Columbia Heights High School (CHHS) and Columbia Academy (CA) performed all sorts of group numbers, solos and band recitals. Some notable performances are the duet sung by CHHS choir members Elliot Carruthers (9) and Noah Saldana Haworth (9), to which they sang “I Am A Girl Like You” from the soundtrack to the animated movie “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper”. CHHS band members Norbu Lama (10), Samuel Johnson (10), Alex Ruiz Cortazar (10), Xavier Vital-Schwartz (10) and Oliver Carter (11) made up an ensemble that played a spirited rendition of “Malevolent March” by Charles Mekealian. Diving into our CA performers, the elite and talented Rutendo Marimba band played many outstanding percussive-centric pieces alongside CA band teacher Mr. Todd Boyd on the drums.
The second and last day for the Expressions showcase included a continued showing of all of the student art pieces from the day prior, plus more performances in the main hall, this time from our small but mighty elementary musicians and singers. This included third graders from all of the elementary schools within the district: a choir consisting of students from Highland, North Park School for Innovation and Valley View performed a sing-along concert just outside the Silverwood Visitor Center in the picturesque outdoor amphitheater. Afterwards, students from all three schools who participated in both the honor choir and honor band held their concert of expertly practiced pieces as well. Ending the night was a trio of CHHS flute players who were unable to perform the night before, which featured Barbie Ortiz Robles (12), Shane Whitley (12) and James Noddin (12), who played a song titled “Danse Espagnole” in parts of three for the audience.
“Overall, practicing has been going great so far; we’ve really learned each of our parts in how they are similar and where they vary,” flautist James Noddin (12) said. “In general, for me, it’s always nice to get to hang out with Shane and Barbie, [especially since it was] the second to last time I [got] to play with my buds.”
The Expressions Arts Showcase is definitely a memorable pair of nights for all to enjoy, with fun performances to listen to and watch, artwork to admire and a time to honor our artistic students here at Heights. Expressions allow young people passionate about the arts to, well, “express” themselves! We can’t wait to see what the next year brings, so make sure to find yourself blocking off the end of May on your calendar to attend the event and immerse yourself in a night of meaningful entertainment and talent on display.
