April 2, 2018
By LINDSAY HALFORD
Rutherford County Schools
March is Art in Our Schools month and many artsy events have taken place across Rutherford County Schools.
The school district kicked off the festivities with a recognition ceremony at the Board of Education meeting on March 7 for students whose artwork will be displayed throughout the Central Office for the next year.
Sixty-four students have artwork on display with representatives from each of the district’s 47 schools.
The celebration continued with the first-ever RCS Art Showcase.
As part of the new RCS Fine Arts Honors Series, the Art Showcase took place at Thurman Francis Arts Academy on March 15. High-achieving art students from each of county’s high schools had the opportunity to attend workshops, view artwork by local artists, have their artwork reviewed by university art faculty and talk to current college students majoring in art about their experiences.
The 50 participating students then displayed their work in a public show. Local artists served as judges for the artwork.
The following students were presented awards:
Honorable Mention - Dutch Haney (Stewarts Creek)
Honorable Mention - Marleen Ebrahim (Riverdale)
Honorable Mention - Grace Van Langen (Stewarts Creek)
3rd Place Overall - Kaylee Phimmasene (Riverdale)
2nd Place Overall - AC Yancy (Riverdale)
Best in Show - Eli Ward (Riverdale)
Elementary and middle school students had an opportunity, this month, to have their work displayed in the gallery at the Center for the Arts in Murfreesboro.
This is the fourth year that the Center for the Arts has worked collaboratively with RCS to present a gallery experience for student artwork. Each participating school selected up to 15 works to hang in the Center’s gallery from March 6-19.
A closing reception at the Center was canceled because of weather concerns.
However, six winners were chosen from among the participants:
Kindergarten – Fourth Grade Category:
3rd Place: Ava Salas (McFadden School of Excellence)
2nd Place: Taleen Abdelrahman (McFadden School of Excellence)
1st Place and Best in Show: Tate Morris (McFadden School of Excellence)
Fifth Grade – Eighth Grade Category:
3rd Place: Kaitlyn Elliott (Central Magnet)
2nd Place: Piper Danielson (Central Magnet)
1st Place: Ruelah Plummer (Central Magnet)
For those who were unable to see the incredible artwork on display, there will be another opportunity at an upcoming event.
The MTSU Winner’s Circle Art Show will take place on campus at the Todd Art Gallery May 8-23 with an awards reception on May 19.
Selected students from all grade levels and all RCS schools will be showing work at the annual event.