Heritage Hall hosts regional arts festival
For the first time in its 55-year history, the ISAS Arts Festival was recently hosted by Heritage Hall.
The Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) has made a tradition of this visual and performing arts celebration. Typically occurring each spring at a different member school campus, the festival attracts upward of 3,000 students in ninth through 12th grades from independent schools in Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Originally scheduled to be held at Greenhill School in Texas this year, the full festival was canceled for a third consecutive year due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heritage Hall joined with four other nearby ISAS schools to create an event that was smaller in scale.
“This arts festival isn’t just something that our kids look forward to every year; it’s a vital piece of our program,” said Jay Ferguson, Heritage Hall fine arts director. “Spending two days sharing their work with other young artists and performers helps build camaraderie and confidence and shows that they are connected to a much larger community than they ever realized existed. It can be transformational for students.”
Visiting schools Casady, Holland Hall, Riverfield Country Day and Wichita Collegiate brought hundreds of their students to join in the celebration. The festival showcased students in orchestra and choir concerts, digital cinema, dance and theater performances, and various visual arts exhibits.
This year’s theme, “Arts Roam Wild,” depicted a watercolor buffalo as the logo to suggest the freedom felt by students as they wandered the festival and expressed themselves through art.