K-12 Students Shine in the Fine Arts

The SAA and SDS Fine Arts students in grades K-12 have made quite an impression in the community this spring, excelling in both the visual arts and performing arts. Here is a roundup of an exciting semester full of passion, energy, and artistic expression.

Catholic Schools Art Show, hosted by St. Agnes and St. Dominic

The Catholic Schools Art Show was started in 2001 by some of the Catholic schools' art teachers. Like many events, it disappeared during COVID but made a return for the first time this spring thanks to the persistence of Meghan Slater, SAA-SDS Lower School art teacher, who reached out to the Diocese and a fellow art teacher to make it happen.

Mrs. Slater explained, “We were excited to have this event make a comeback! Nine schools participated this year - St. Ann, St. Paul, St. Louis, SBA, St. Francis of Assisi, CBHS, OLPH, Holy Rosary, and SAA-SDS.  The show featured around 150 pieces of art from students in K-12.”

The show was hosted in our library from April 17-23, with a closing reception held on Sunday, April 23. Attendees filled the library to view the amazing works of art. Congratulations to the St. Agnes and St. Dominic students whose artwork was chosen for display:

Kindergarten - Riya Kemburu and Liam Demoss

1st Grade - Julia Morrison and Brooks Williams

2nd Grade - Meri Nelson and Max Blaylock

3rd Grade - Olivia Cabigao and Andrew Tucker 

4th Grade - Francesca Price and Owen Meeks

5th Grade - Avery Holton and Parr Worley

6th Grade - Harriet Howard and Finn Drzyzga

7th Grade - Avery Weems and Connell Simmons

8th Grade - Brooke Bounds and Nick Mihalko

9th Grade - Maria Angeles and Lilliana Vescovo

10th Grade - Bonnie Bryan and Dylan Jeanfreau

11th Grade - Abby Wood and Meghan Kallaher

12th Grade - Sophia Carroll and Abby Pyrdom

Students’ Works on Display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens 

“Art to Grow," the outreach program of The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, visits local schools each spring, including SAA and SDS. The program coordinator visited Mrs. Slater’s classes on March 28 to teach a variety of lessons connected to current Dixon exhibits. Due to the success of those visits, this year the Dixon decided to host an art show entitled "Made in Dixon" featuring student artwork that has been collected from their education programs this year. The original works of two of our students, Louis Paxton (SDS 5) and Lily Natera (SAA 2), were chosen for the show. Their works will be on display from April 30-June 11, so stop by if you can!

Senior AP Art Show

The Upper School Senior AP Art Show was hosted in the Dominican Spirituality Center on Wednesday, April 29. This year’s group of seniors has diverse talents and interests, including cinematography, fashion design, art history, theater, and visual arts. We will miss these Stars and their particularly unique and creative styles: Sophia Carroll, Paige Jerit, Abby Pyrdom, Olivia Sicuro, and Taylor Warne.

Newsies Cast Earns Six Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards Nominations

The incredible cast of the recent Upper School show Newsies earned the following nominations from the Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards:

Outstanding Chorus

Outstanding Dance Execution

Outstanding Front of House

The BRAVO Award - Jim Patterson as Les

Outstanding Featured Dancer - Morgan Paige

Outstanding Supporting Actress - Lauren Brown as Davey

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The Orpheum High School awards program supports, promotes, and enhances high school musical theatre throughout the Mid-South, recognizing achievements in all areas of high school musical theatre. Productions from all over the region will be recognized at this year’s awards ceremony on May 25, and SAA students Annabelle Lawler and Liza Russ will perform on the Orpheum stage in the opening number.

Calliope Literary Magazine Receives Honors

Students at St. Agnes Academy began publishing the award-winning Calliope literary magazine in 1986. The student-generated magazine combines creative literature, skilled artwork, and defining photography. Calliope is a means of expression for the students, allowing them to reveal their passions and talents and to have their works published and read by a wide audience. The 2022 issue of Calliope was recently awarded the following recognition in the Magazine Visual Category:

Single Subject Feature Package (two facing pages designed as a visual unit)

Certificate of Merit: Gretta Fogerty, “Persephone's Diary”

Single Subject Feature Package, 3 or more pages or special section

3rd place: Anna Osias and Emily Thorne, “Passenger”

Cover Design for Literary or Literary Art Magazine

Certificate of Merit: Sophia Carroll, Paige Jerit, and Olivia Sicuro,

Photo illustration

Certificate of Merit: Abby Pyrdom, “Spiral Quote”

The 2022 Calliope editors were Paige Jerit ('23), Sophia Carroll ('23) and Valerie Hernandez ('22)

There's more!

Other notable fine arts performances were provided by our 5^th-8^th grade students in their production of Music Man, Jr, our Upper School vocalists who entertained us at the Spring Choral Concert, the Catholic Schools Art Show, and senior night for the CBHS baseball team.  Thursday night’s Upper School Altered Book Show, displayed in Siena Foyer from 5:30-7:30 will close out the spring season.