Valparaiso Community Schools: Spring Into the Arts Festival 2017

Valparaiso-Community-Schools-Spring-Into-the-Arts-Festival-2017Valparaiso Community Schools would like to announce our 2nd annual Arts Festival: Spring into the @rts.

Spring into the @rts is a month-long festival for the ENTIRE community, brought to you by Valparaiso Community Schools. It is a festival organized and orchestrated by VCS volunteers who firmly believe students deserve meaningful experiences that allow them to showcase personal creativity as well as learn more about their local community. This event combines both of those concepts in an innovative and unexpected way.

VCS student artwork grades K-12 will be featured at seven landmark downtown locations and will remain on display during the entire duration of our month-long festival. Aside from the seven central locations, we’ve added downtown exhibitor locations to feature Valparaiso University student art as well as artists from other local youth organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club. This wide array of talent will exhibit over 1,500 pieces for our community to enjoy!

The month-long celebration will feature five VCS events as well as partnered events to take place in Valpo between April 22nd – May 20th. We will provide an events calendar to the public to outline all of the micro-events taking place within our festival timeline.

This year we will organize five VCS student-centered events, each highlighting a specific art form:

  • The @rt-chitecture Walk, our kick-off event, will focus on VISUAL ARTS and will take place at Urschel Pavilion on Saturday, April 22nd at 10:30 am. All of the community is invited to join us as we unveil over 1,500 pieces of student artwork at each participating downtown location.
  • The STE@M Show, hosted by our very own VCS elementary STEM teachers, will take place Saturday, April 29th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at Urschel Pavilion. This event will feature all things Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, with student inventions/creations at the center of it all.
  • The@ter Outreach, our very first theater production, will take place Friday, May 5th from 6:30 – 8:30pm at Valparaiso University’s Center for the Arts. Leading the way with her expertise, Valparaiso University professor Salena Elish and her theatre major students will assist 2nd grade Flint Lake students to perform their very own production! The play will be based on the incredible novel: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
  • The VALPO Film Festiv@l, highlighting student, collaborative, and professional films, will take place Saturday, May 6th from 6:30 – 9:00 pm. We will showcase a plethora of film examples and announce student film contest winners. We hope to also share a local artist documentary and award-winning adventure film.
  • Where Did V@n Gogh, our final closing event, will provide the community with an interactive scavenger hunt throughout downtown businesses. It will take place Saturday, May 20th from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. We will also highlight student musical performances as well as a variety of street art for attendees to enjoy.

Key partnerships with the City of Valparaiso, Valparaiso Parks Department, Porter Community Foundation, The Post Tribune, Shawn Spaw Team, and Valparaiso Art House & Gallery, have allowed us to expand our festival even further this year. Events taking place throughout the month will cover a wide array of art forms. We are very lucky to have exceptional venues all within walking distance of one another downtown, venues such as the Memorial Opera House, Porter County Museum, Valparaiso Public Library, and Valpo Art House & Gallery.

Please consider joining us in an effort to show just how important the Arts are to our community, our schools, and most importantly, our students.

To support this incredible festival and help it continue year after year, please visit www.springintothearts.com and attend our events!

You can help us provide t-shirts to our selected K-12 artists by purchasing a Spring into the @rts t-shirt! https://www.booster.com/springintotheartsfestival2017

To receive up-to-date information, download YAPP on your device and type in keyword ‘intothearts’ to access our event app with real-time announcements.

You can also like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valpospringintothearts