Painting, creating, performing and more. Area students are invited to share their artistic talents at Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center’s annual Artapolooza festival. This year it will take place March 31st through April 2nd at the Mid-Ohio Conference Center (890 W. Fourth Street, Mansfield). Students from all area schools, not just MOESC member districts, are all welcome to submit projects for the festival.
As in years previous, Artapolooza will accept all types of visual art projects: paintings, drawings, sculptures, as well as mixed media and digital arts. New this year is the inclusion of performing arts. MOESC is inviting musicians to perform within the gallery space, which will contribute to an enhanced viewing experience for gallery patrons. Schools may sign up students for time slots for instrumental or vocal musical performances on the evenings of March 31st and April 2nd. On April 1st there will be a Cabaret event in the evening for interested groups, featuring area show choirs, musicians, vocalists, dancers and dramatic performers.
Another feature new to Artapolooza this year is the interactive art gallery. Jennifer Pennell, MOESC gifted education consultant explained, “We are inviting teachers to submit videos of the students creating their art as a video blog of the process. We think it will really enhance the experience for everyone to see how the project was made.” Pennell said they will have QR codes near the projects for patrons to scan in order to view videos of the work-in-progress.
As an additional resource, MOESC is also offering the opportunity for students’ artwork to be evaluated for possible gifted identification; most schools support a Gifted and Talented-type program that the student could be identified for.
Submissions are due March 11th. Forms, information and submission details can be found at the MOESC website. For more information, contact Pennell at 419-774-5520, ext. 2606
“Artapolooza is about celebrating the arts, something that is important to every child’s education. We’re just supporting the belief from the Ohio Department of Education that ‘education in the Fine Arts is essential in developing the whole child,’” Pennell said.
