Category Archives: Fine arts

HSPVA one of two schools nationwide selected for national jazz tour 

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Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts was one of only two schools nationwide selected by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz to participate in a national “Peer-to-Peer Education” tour. HSPVA opened in Savannah, Ga., on April 11 and continued on to Charleston, Ga., performing in public schools all week.

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I am HISD: Meet renowned pianist and ‘Selma’ composer who developed a love of music in HISD schools 

Jason Moran works with a dance class at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center where he went to school as well.

Jason Moran works with a dance class at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center.

In this week’s I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, HISD alumnus and renowned pianist, composer, and bandleader Jason Moran talks about giving back to the HISD schools he attended and receiving a McArthur “genius” grant. He attended McGregor Elementary School, Gregory Lincoln Education Center, and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During a recent visit to Houston to engage with students at all three schools, he took time out from his busy schedule to talk to HISD. For more background information see these links: African-American alumni give back and HISD alumni bringing Black History month to life. 

You are in year two of a three-year homecoming residency sponsored by Da Camera with the three schools you attended at HISD. What inspired you to give back to students in those schools?

Many of the thought patterns that I continue to use as a mature artist were learned at those schools. Macgregor Elementary is the place where an instrument was first placed in my hands [a violin], and that prompted my parents to buy a piano for all of us boys to practice on. That piano is still in my living room In New York City, and it’s probably the one I play the most. Though they seem fleeting, these ideas that are planted early on in children’s minds are very important. Continue reading →

Five HISD student-created cars win prizes at the Art Car Parade

Five HISD schools won prizes in Saturday’s 29th annual Art Car Parade in downtown Houston, with district-created student art cars snagging two of the four “first-place” winning categories in overall competition.

The Reagan High School Art Car Club, led by teacher Rebecca Bass, won first place with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the Lovett Elementary Visual Arts Program, with  teacher Rickey Polidore Jr., won first place with “ ‘OWL’ways in the ARTISTIC FRAME of Mind.” Both schools received a grand trophy and $1,500.

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Five HISD students win additional honors through Scholastic Art & Writing

Detail from Andrea Conley’s artwork titled “Fish Out of Water”

Andrea Conley’s “Fish Out of Water”

Students from four different HISD schools have been recognized as national winners in the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing contests, and a fifth student has received an additional award at the regional level.

Pin Oak MS’s Andrea Conley won a gold medal at the national level in the drawing and illustration category for her piece titled “Fish Out of Water,” while Ashton (Unity) Haq (HS for Performing and Visual Arts) and Aleia Sen (T.H. Rogers) took home silver medals in the poetry and personal essay/memoir categories respectively.

Carnegie Vanguard HS student Jaelynn Walls was named sole national American Voices Medal winner for her personal essay/memoir — one of Scholastic’s most prestigious awards — and Eli Winter (also from CVHS) received one of three regional Trustees’ Exemplary Awards from Harris County Department of Education (HCDE).

To see a complete list of national winners, please visit the HCDE website.

Davis HS band to compete at inaugural statewide UIL mariachi festival

DavisHSMariachi2016_800A dozen students from HISD’s Davis HS will be making history this weekend — both as participants in the University Interscholastic League’s very first State Mariachi Festival and as the only school from HISD to be representing the district.

Davis is one of almost 60 schools playing in the inaugural competition, which takes place March 11 and 12 in San Antonio.

“I am pleased to see that mariachi is being recognized at the UIL state level,” said teacher José Niño. “It combines orchestra, band, and choir all in one.”

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HISD, Arts Access Initiative partnership to expand arts education to 25 schools

Last spring, HISD, Young Audiences of Houston, the City of Houston, and more than 30 community arts organizations announced a new partnership — the Arts Access Initiative (AAI) — that has been providing additional arts-education programming to 10 elementary schools and one middle school. In late March, the AAI will announce 14 new HISD schools selected from around 40 applicants that will join the existing AAI cohort in 2016–2017.

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The first district schools to benefit from AAI are: Atherton, Benbrook, Eliot, Hartsfield, Hines-Caldwell, Kashmere Gardens, Memorial, Mitchell, Scarborough, and Whittier elementary schools, as well as Hamilton Middle School.

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HSPVA ensemble becomes first from HISD to be named ‘Madrigal Festival Honor Choir’

HSPVA_MadrigalCostu_2016_800A group of singers from The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) has just become the very first from an HISD campus to win a coveted state title.

The HSPVA Madrigal Singers were recently named the winner of the 2016 Madrigal and Chamber Choir Festival and the 2017 Honor Choir by the San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival (SAMCCF). They competed against 41 other choirs from across the state on March 5, and as the winners of this year’s competition, they will return to the festival next year and perform the Honor Choir Concert.

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Thelonious Monk Institute launches week of jazz at four HISD schools

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A weeklong celebration of jazz kicked off at Waltrip HS on Feb. 29, as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz brought its “Peer-to-Peer” jazz education program to HISD. HISD was one of only six school districts selected nationwide this year to host the program.

The program started with what the Institute dubs an “informance” — a performance and lesson combined — performed by a group of gifted students from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA).

“We’re here to share knowledge about jazz, but also, I guess, more importantly what jazz represents,” said LACHSA student and percussionist Austin Kim, 15. “The American values it teaches,” interjected LACHSA student and pianist Jamael Dean, 17.

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‘Eye on Houston’ exhibit showcases student photography

Detail of “Young Souls,” by Bellaire High School student Blanca Barrios. Image courtesy MFAH.

Detail of “Young Souls,” by Bellaire High School student Blanca Barrios. Image courtesy MFAH.

Art-loving Houstonians can see the world through the eyes of more than three dozen HISD students this spring, thanks to an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) that is returning for its 21st year.

Formerly known as “Eye on Third Ward” and limited to photographs taken by Yates HS students, “Eye on Houston” formally opened on Jan. 12 this year in MFAH’s Audrey Jones Beck Building (5601 Main Street, 77005), and features photographs taken by 37 students from five different HISD campuses. Those students are all juniors or seniors at Bellaire, Chávez, Westside, and Yates high schools, or the Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center.

The exhibition will be on display through Sunday, May 1, 2016.

Many African American artists among HISD’s distinguished alumni give back

Editor’s Note: Black History Month runs from Monday, Feb. 1, through Monday, Feb. 29, this year, and HISD is celebrating with a series of weekly stories recognizing distinguished African Americans who graduated from district high schools. This third article focuses on alumni who went on to have successful careers in the fine arts. The first and second articles spotlighted professional athletes, and lawmakers/politicians (respectively). Others will feature educators and those with careers in radio, TV, and film.

HISD has a wealth of African-American alumni with talent in the performing and visual arts — and many of these distinguished graduates have chosen to share their gifts with later generations of students.

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