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Ruhi Samudra

Junior Madison Curran shows her brother, Owen Curran, the displayed artwork. She was one of many visual arts students showing the art portfolios to her family. “I get to see that joy from students, like how excited they are to have their work showcased, to tell me what things they overheard and to get to see their vision for Night of Arts come to life,” visual arts teacher Kearci Thompson said.

In a magical evening of breathtaking exhibits and captivating performances, audiences made the school come alive in a celebration of students’ artistic talents.

Visual arts students set up this year’s Night of the Arts and Gallery Opening, “Paris: City of Love,” on Feb. 10 in the Student Union. Selected students also sang at the Cabaret Night, “Acts of Love,” which took place on the same evening in the theater at 7 p.m.

Night of the Arts features all visual art classes and is, for the most part, student-organized, according to visual arts teacher Kearci Thompson. In fact, the very first Night of the Arts was proposed by a student who was passionate about sharing their work with others.

“I think it’s really important because, oftentimes, we just kind of stay in this room, and so our work doesn’t really get as many chances to be noticed,” Thompson said. “This is an opportunity for us to be able to show all the hard work we’ve done. I think for a lot of students, it motivates them to continue the rest of the year and finish up their last few pieces.”

Cabaret Night is an opportunity for students to sing solos, duets or quartets, differing from the typical experience in an ensemble, according to junior Kody Lin. It was separate from Night of the Arts in previous years, but this year the two events integrated through the theme “Acts of Love.”

“I like to stay very active with choir activities, so I try to participate in as many choir events as I can because I’m really passionate about choir,” Lin said. “It’s something I really love to do and contribute to, and I think it is a really good opportunity to step out of your own comfort zone and perform on stage for an audience.”

Junior and visual arts student Gabi Ahn also took risks when designing the eye-shaped installation displayed in the gallery. After pitching the idea to the class, they used teamwork and creativity to build the project, according to Ahn.

“It’s the theme of Paris, the city of love, so I didn’t want to do something super stereotypical,” Ahn said. “I decided to branch off with the love theme and do something like having eyes for only one person, so I decided to make a big eye where you could write stuff down and put it inside.”

Students who missed the Night of the Arts and Cabaret Night will have an opportunity to view all of the displays and the performances in the Student Union during Fine Arts week from Feb. 13-16.