Wye River Upper School Art and Music Expo
Faculty, staff, families and friends of Wye River Upper School enjoyed an evening of the arts at their annual Art and Music Expo on Thursday, May 8th at CBEC (Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center). Students shared their musical talents and exhibited a variety of fine art pieces. Original artwork included block prints, charcoal drawings, digital photography, and original student movies. Cross-curricular artwork completed by the World History class included painted terracotta plates inspired by ancient Greece. Also on display were urban sketches of historic Centreville completed under the instruction of local artist, Marc Castelli, and WRUS Art Director, James Martinez.
The music portion of the Expo included a wide variety of pieces from Claude Debussy to Elvis Presley to Green Day. This year’s event was marked an increased number of student singers. WRUS music teachers, Kimberleigh Nichols and Kellie Thuman have expanded the schools’ music program this year by adding more voice instruction. Additionally, some WRUS students have been able to take two elective classes in music this year. “We have several musically gifted students and they can’t get enough music. They grew a lot this year having been given additional time in their schedule to write and create music”
The Art and Music Expo is held annually each May and next year, WRUS staff look forward to holding the event at their new school location, the Centreville National Guard Armory. The Armory has a stage as well as a music suite and large art studio. Art Director, Martinez remarks, “The new art space will allow for larger and more diverse projects next year. This will bring the Art and Music Expo to a new level.”
Wye River Upper School is a college preparatory high school offering a supportive, yet challenging curriculum for students with a wide range of learning styles and needs such as ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning or social differences.
Photo: Kyle Hetzel of Pasadena and Toby Hughes of Easton sing while instructor, Kellie Thuman of Denton plays piano and Jesse Kirchner of Queenstown pays guitar.