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ARTS NEWS
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UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT WINS FILMMAKING AWARD The Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking in Sedona named Scott Minard the Institute's "Emerging Filmmaker" for 2012 last May. Through a national competition, this annual award is given to a student in grades 7-12 who demonstrates excellence and creativity in storytelling in a motion picture. Scott's entry, The Epic of Bob, was produced as a class project in the Upper School's Art of Digital Video course this semester. In addition to winning an HD digital video camera, Scott was honored at the Institute's yearly film festival during the Memorial Day weekend in Sedona. STRINGS STUDENTS EXCEL Four Upper School strings students were chosen last spring to participate in the Arizona Music Educators Association regional music festival. They were Wynston Hamann (cellist); Flavia Pajaro-Van de Stadt and Chelsea Wu (first violins); and Tianna Sheih ’12 (first violin). According to Maurine Fleming, PCDS strings teacher, hundreds of musicians auditioned in the western region. Chelsea and Flavia also were selected by audition to play in the 2012 All-State Festival of Performance Orchestra in April at the University of Arizona in Tucson. ALUMNUS VISITS AFTER-SCHOOL ART Phoenix-based artist and illustrator Sebastien Millon ’00 visited Lower School art teacher Michelle Gurnee’s Creating Characters art class last fall, part of the after-school Eagles' Wings art program. The students, in first through third grades, had the opportunity to learn and create with a professional artist whose whimsical work served as a natural inspiration for the Creating Characters concept. Ms. Gurnee put the names of animals in a basket, and the students chose an animal and had to characterize its image.
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The class viewed Mr. Millon’s art before beginning their own work. Their final project was an animal-character tower that was displayed outside the Lower School art room. STUDENTS HONORED IN SYMPHONY ART CONTEST Lower School students were honored for the fourth year in a row for their entries in the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra's Paint to Music Competition. The annual contest,
presented in partnership with Young Arts Arizona, encourages students from around the Valley to create artwork inspired by particular pieces of music or themes. The theme of the competition, part of the symphony’s Arizona centennial celebration, was “Happy Birthday, Arizona!” and students’ work was inspired by Arizona landscapes. The PCDS student-artists in grades 2, 3, and 4 saw their winning art-