Fine Arts

The visual arts department made history

Art teacher Erin Rickelton and seniors Annabelle Parrish and Mattie Ree Neal were recognized at the 2020 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Awards, and Neal was awarded the American Visions Medal and Gold Medal status for her artwork .

Out of more than 1,600 juried works of art from 44 schools, Lipscomb Academy’s Parrish and Neal were two of only five finalists for the American Visions Medal, a national-level recognition .

Due to COVID-19, the annual ceremony usually held at Carnegie Hall in New York City was instead presented online . Prior to the pandemic, Neal had been invited to exhibit her award-winning artwork at the Sheila C . Johnson Design Center Parsons School of Design at The New School .

In the regional competition, academy students also received five Honorable Mentions, four Silver Keys and four Gold Keys .

Additionally, Parrish’s artwork was chosen to be included in the 2020 art exhibition “Teens Take the Frist” at the Frist Art Museum . As a part of the Frist’s vision to inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways, more than 50 artworks and reproductions created by young artists from Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties were showcased .

Mattie Ree Neal

Annabelle Parrish

2020 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Awards

Mattie Ree Neal Grand Prize American Visions Medal National Gold Medal Two Gold Keys Silver Key Two Honorable Mentions Annabelle Parrish American Vision Nominee Two Gold Keys Two Silver Keys Mary Jane Estes Three Honorable Mentions

Bella Ravella Silver Key (poetry submission)

Art faculty recognized as an outstanding educator

Erin Rickelton was recognized in the 2020 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Awards as an outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment and guidance were represented by student work selected for national honors .

Rickelton has taught art and journalism at Lipscomb Academy for the last 22 years . Since joining the fine arts department, she has been instrumental in adding nine classes to increase the fine arts knowledge of her students, including 2D design, 3D design, painting, independent drawing, photography, AP studio art and senior show .

In 2000, after realizing that the academy did not have a platform for showcasing student artwork, Rickelton created and implemented a student art show that continues to this day .

Actively involved in multiple extracurricular activities with students, Rickelton created the Art Club and Service Club and together with Ginger Reasonover, lower school science faculty, launched the Green Club and recycling program at the academy . In 2018, Rickelton received the Living Water Volunteer of the Year Award for her project to sell student-made artwork, primarily created from reclaimed wood and other repurposed materials, which raised approximately $10,000 to build clean water wells around the world .

Lipscomb Academy Upper School Songwriting Contest The Lipscomb Academy Fine Arts Department and the LA Songwriting Club, in partnership with Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts (CEA), held the first ever Lipscomb Academy Upper School Songwriting Contest this past year .

Contestants from grades 7-12 were given the opportunity to refine their songs with assistance from the CEA and to receive valuable feedback from an impressive panel of songwriters who judged the contest .

All three winners will have the opportunity to take their music to the next level in a session at Lipscomb University’s Sound Emporium studio with the assistance of the professional instructors and students of the CEA commercial music program, under the direction of the Lipscomb School of Music Director and Grammy Award-winning producer Brown Bannister .

The winners were:

First Place: JoJo Mullen “Malibu Be Callin’” Second Place: Abby Whitman “Happy Thanksgiving Day” Third Place: Bo Tillman “Satisfied”

Recognition of chorus

The pandemic stopped the Lipscomb Academy chorus from performing but not before they qualified for the Tennessee Chapter of the American Choral Director's Association’s State Choral Festival . This is the 33rd consecutive year for the high school chorus to qualify for the state assessment, and the academy chorus has the honor of being the only chorus in the state to do so every year since the inception of the event .

'Tis the Season In December, the Green Hills Mall hosted performances by the middle and high school chorus, band, strings and dance troupes . The strings program, led by Bailey Floyd, continued to show growth this academic year with a 30 percent increase from previous year and 52 participants .

Upper School fall play

The theatre department presented Thornton Wilder’s Our Town with grades 9-12 as the fall play . This large cast produced a beautiful show that highlighted Wilder's themes of appreciating all of the special moments in life .