Sarah Goes GOLD!

Thursday night we attended an awards ceremony at the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts for the Scholastic Art Awards.



Sarah was among the local student artists being honored. Her art teachers urged her to submit some of her art pieces to this annual competition. She sent three entries in, and one of them was awarded a Gold Key - the top award. We are really proud of her for putting herself out there and for working so hard to achieve this honor. Congratulations, Sarah!



Her piece is a chalk pastel drawing of a bowl of fruit - a classic still life, right?



Maybe not... Is that mold on that orange? Is that pear rotting? The apple has worms in it! And, are those fruit flies circling overhead?!



The assignment was to draw something ugly in a beautiful manner, and Sarah stuck her tongue firmly in her cheek with this concept of a typical still life that isn't. Pretty clever, I think...

Several of her friends were award winners, as well, some Gold, some Silver, some Honorable Mention (a status Sarah achieved last year). She's in with a talented group of friends who support each other. That's always a healthy environment for budding artists.



If you're local and want to see some of the amazing art at this exhibit, it's on display through Saturday, January 23rd at PNCA.

The Conchords Chorale gets "festive"

I guess I know how to pick 'em. My community choir, The Conchords Chorale, is getting quite a name for itself, and, in fact, will be an official Rose Festival event this year. In addition to our usual performances around town at Retirement Centers and such, we will also do two shows at the Hollywood Theater in June during the Portland Rose Festival. Last year, we were a "sponsored" event, paying our dues and proving ourselves capable of putting on a quality performance. Guess it worked, as we've moved up the ladder this year! Tickets are already being sold as bus tour packages, so the pressure is on!



Surprisingly, the Rose Festival, in its 103-year history, has never been declared the "official" festival of the City of Portland. So yesterday, there was a proclamation brought before the City Council to do just that. We were there to perform, and sang Everything's Coming Up Roses. The One More Time Around Again Marching Band (supposedly the largest marching band in the world) performed, too, and the Royal Rosarians , the Clown Corps, and last year's court were in attendance, along with various dignitaries and historians. It was quite impressive, and we felt honored to be a part of it. We were even on the local news last night!



Our show's theme is "Let's Go to the Movies", and we'll be singing songs from various films spanning from the '30's to the '80's. Our format will be an Oscars-style program, with "celebrities" presenting awards for Best Song from various years. Should be fun and entertaining for our audiences. It will be an exciting season, to be sure!

Emily is cast in her first play!

I am so proud of Emily. She's a seventh grader in a 6th-12th grade school, and she had the confidence to audition for a musical. I would say "like mother, like daughter," but I was an adult before I got up the nerve to do such a thing. She had to prepare a monologue and a song, and performed well enough that she got called back. She wasn't cast as one of the five lead roles (no surprise), but she is in the chorus. She starts rehearsals next week, and, if you've ever been in a play, you know that our lives are about to become a lot more complicated - and extremely busy! It's a big commitment...

The play is called Celebration, and is timed to be the inaugural show in the school's new Performing Arts facility, currently under construction. We're really excited about this new space, and look forward to seeing Emily onstage to help inaugurate its use in March.

Good job, Emily! Have fun!

So, just what is a charrette?

Sarah came home one day and announced that her Urban Design class at school was going on a field trip. They were participating in a charrette with the Beaverton City Planners. This class, new to the curriculum this year, was offered as an alternative to a traditional Government class, and certainly seems well-suited to an arts school. Their focus this semester has been to come up with a design plan for a parcel of unused land near downtown Beaverton - and within walking distance of ACMA - that has stymied city planners for years. The class was divided into groups and each group developed a design for the property based on principles of urban design and land use studied in class. The field trip - the charrette - gave them an opportunity to meet with the city planners themselves and receive hands-on suggestions, advice, and feedback from the pros. What an opportunity! These seasoned professionals walked around and offered ideas for improving different aspects of the students' plans, and discussed what would work and what might need more thought. The press was there to witness this once-in-a-lifetime event, and the accompanying article gives more detail - along with pictures. We feel so fortunate that our daughters attend a school that's not afraid to be innovative!

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