Upper School

Marauder Dance Company held a Nutcracker Camp in early December. More than 20 students Kindergarten through 5th spent the week learning dance routines, creating costumes, and filming performances. MDC Parents received a digital copy of MDC’s The Nutcracker Ballet performance in lieu of a live recital.

Graphic Design students were partnered with children from Syria and created portraits of each other as part of The Memory Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting intercultural understanding and kindness between children around the world through school-based art programs. Since 2004, the organization has coordinated the delivery of 180,000 portraits to children in 55 countries.

Upper School students in Kaitlyn Dressel’s photography class created Refractive Art projects inspired by Suzanne Saroff’s photographs. Refraction is when light bends passing through water, causing the objects behind to change appearance.

Congratulations to our Upper School Drama Troupe who participated in the 2020 Florida International Thespian Society North West Regional Festival. We entered 15 events with all students qualifying for State with Excellent & Superior ratings. The event was held virtually this year, but Maclay continues to provide a space for lights to shine, for students to create, and for the arts to thrive. Good luck to our Thespians at State!

The Winter Festival looked different this year without an awards ceremony but Maclay artists still took numerous awards. Sixteen student artists submitted their work to the annual event sponsored by the Council of Culture and Arts. 6th grader Sophia Fasig took best overall in the Middle School division.

Each student in Ms. Painter’s Upper School Foundations of Art Classes painted a yellow polka-dot pumpkin that came together to become a collaborative installation inspired by Kusama’s installation All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins from her Infinity Room series. Yayol Kusama is a contemporary Japanese artist, working in a variety of media but is especially known for her installations, where the viewer becomes an active part of the artwork itself. The artwork was displayed in the Beck Family Innovation Center and students from all divisions came by to experience it. Tessa Cooper was one of the artists featured in the Winter Festival.