ArtBEAT
Issue 3 Spring/Summer 2026
Sacred Heart Greenwich Arts
Ciao, Roma!
Upper School student performers
travel to Italy
Visual Arts Program Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Visual Arts Program inspires
courage & creativity
in Lower, Middle, and Upper School
Visiting Artists From professional artists to an alumna designing her own future at FIT, visiting artists
inspire & guide
visual arts students in the classroom
One Year at ArtBEAT! What an amazing year we have had in the arts at Sacred Heart Greenwich! From formative arts education in the Barat Center to advanced portfolio work and performance experience that will carry our students into collegiate art programs, we couldn’t be more proud of the growth taking place every day in our classrooms and studio spaces. Enjoy this final, celebratory look at the 2025-2026 year. We can’t wait to see you again in the fall! Mrs. Eva Carrasquero P’16, H’23, Performing Arts Department Chair Mrs. Marnie McLaughlin, Visual Arts Department Chair
Table of Contents 4
Student Performers Travel to Italy
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2nd–4th Grade Musical: The Lion King KIDS
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K–1st Grade Musical: Cockadoodle Dandy
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Reliving the Film Festival
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Spotlight: Visiting Artists Series
10
Upper School Musical: CATS
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Middle and Upper School Spring Concert
13
All-School Art Show
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Program Spotlight: A Look Inside the Visual Arts Program
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Alumnae Feature: Anna Oliver ’24 Designs Her Own Future at FIT
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The Year in Our Students’ Words
Scan here to follow @shgreenwicharts on Instagram!
Student Performers Travel to Italy
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2nd–4th Grade Musical: The Lion King KIDS
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K–1st grade Musical: Cockadoodle Dandy
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Reliving the Film Festival
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Spotlight: Visiting Artists Series Juan William Chavez is a Peruvian American artist based in St. Louis, Missouri, and his work explores stewardship of the land and creation in concert with nature, addressing topics such as community building, environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, and native beekeeping. In addition to presenting his work to the entire Upper School during his visit, he led workshops across all three divisions that enabled students to create posters and zines focused on sustainability and native bee conservation.
Holly Ross, a botanical artist who holds a certificate in Botanical Illustration from the New York Botanical Gardens Art and Illustration Department, visited our visual arts classrooms and guided our students through the mechanics of botanical drawing: a unique blend of science and art, capturing the delicate details, textures, and colors of plants with precision and beauty. In all her workshops, she used a step-by-step process that encouraged patience, close observation, and a deeper appreciation for nature’s intricate designs, and each student created a still life that focused on shape, light, and shadow to bring their pieces to life!
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Upper School Musical: CATS
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Middle and Upper School Spring Concert
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All–School Art Show
Sara Z. ’29 Jaiden V. ’26
Ellie O. ’28
Addyson F. ’26
Hadley B. ’26
Olivia F. ’26
Mya G. ’26
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A Look Inside the Sacred Heart Greenwich Visual Arts Program
Kaitlyn B. ’27
T
his year, visual arts students at Sacred Heart Greenwich continued to thrive as they explored, experimented, and grew creatively! Our Visiting Artists Series brought professional artists to all divisions, and this year our students learned from and worked with Juan William Chavez and Holly Ross. Student artists went on field trips to museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Our school-wide Earth Day celebrations even featured an upcycle fashion show created by our Upper School design students! In their visual arts classes, students at all levels are challenged to build their confidence, learn new skills, and collaborate with their peers in the classroom. Mrs. Marnie McLaughlin, Upper School Art Teacher and Visual Arts Department
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Chair, explains, “Student artwork, ranging from early drawing and painting to advanced photography, reflects a program that values creativity, discipline, and self-expression at every stage of development.” In each division, our student artists developed technical and analytical skills while also realizing their value as imaginative and empathetic thinkers. In the Lower School, students made cornhusk dolls, created woven pieces with their own hand-spun wool, and learned how to begin capturing the unique features of different animals in sculpture and illustration. Our Middle School students grew in areas such as printmaking and ceramics—beginning with the pottery wheel!—while eighthgraders integrated work on their year-long Capstone Projects, a synthesis of artistic practice with interdisciplinary research.
Upper School visual artists enjoyed diving further into specialized disciplines. Photography students worked in the darkroom, experimented with values and contrast, and made prints, photograms, and zines. Design
students worked with a variety of media and textiles, utilizing the new sewing studio and learning from visiting alumna Anna Oliver ’24, who is currently studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Drawing and Painting, Foundations
of Art, Advanced Portfolio, and AP classes provided students the time, resources, and opportunity to push themselves further in their study of the visual arts.
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This year’s innovation and creativity culminated in the Eighth Annual All-School Art Show, which exhibited artwork by students from the Barat Center through the twelfth grade. On display were examples of our dedicated students’ unique skill sets and diverse projects.
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As student artists look beyond their time at Sacred Heart Greenwich, we were thrilled to host our second Pathway to the Arts College Exploration Event! A collaborative effort between College Counseling and the Upper School Arts Departments, this initiative
aims to support and celebrate the aspirations of college-bound artists and performers by connecting them with a diverse range of visual and performing arts colleges. Over the past two years, student artists and their families have been able to engage with representatives from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Emerson College, Tufts University School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Dean College, School of the Visual Arts, Parsons The New School, Purchase College, The Cleveland Institute of Art, and more. This year’s event featured a panel discussion that provided valuable insights into the many options and unique demands of the college admissions process for artists.
As they take risks, step outside their comfort zone, and engage deeply in the creative process inside and outside the classroom, the students in the Sacred Heart Greenwich Visual Arts Program are developing into thoughtful, resilient, and imaginative future leaders. The close of another school year leaves us immensely proud of their growth in courage, confidence, and creativity!
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Alumnae Anna Oliver ’24 Designs Anna Oliver ’24 chose to build on her artistic studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. In her first year, she made a collection of suits and eveningwear for her illustration class based on Elsa Schiaparelli’s designs. “My favorite projects that year were my draping final and a collection I made for my history class based on ancient Egyptian dress,” she said. She most recently finished her final collection for her portfolio class, a punk-inspired collection featuring sportswear, floral, and special-occasion elements. “All my pieces are inspired by flowers and DIY fashion,” she explained. “It’s a concept I’ve been exploring in my personal style for a while now, and it’s very fun to be able to visualize it in watercolors. It came from my capstone project, which was very
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floral, with musical motifs.” She also worked as the costume designer for FIT’s musical Alice by Heart, for which she made many pieces from scratch.
Recently, Anna returned to Sacred Heart Greenwich to work with Upper School design students, share her experience at FIT, and demonstrate how to draw a “croquis,” the fashion figure that serves as the basis for fashion sketching and illustration.
Feature: Her Own Future at FIT
As for how Sacred Heart Greenwich prepared her for her next level of studies, she first credited the important problem-solving skills with helping her handle the initially daunting workload. She also explained that the social skills she developed at Sacred Heart helped her make meaningful connections in the fashion world. “The art classes I had taken were also instrumental in my Visual Design classes at FIT,” she said, adding that she still references her AP Art History notes, as well.
Returning to campus to mentor students in her former art studio was a full-circle moment for Anna, and she reiterated how much the program impacted her as an artist. “This has been a period of incredible growth, and I attribute much of my success to Sacred Heart Greenwich.”
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This Year in Our Students’ Words “I love learning new things in art class, like how to draw still lifes. My teacher helps me feel proud of my creative ideas and make art in new ways.”
Alina B. ’35 “The dance program allows me to tell stories and express emotions through movement, while teaching me discipline, hard work, creativity, and strength.”
Chloe C. ’28 “The supportive community in the theatre program makes me feel confident enough to take risks and go out of my comfort zone in class and on stage.”
Eleanor K. ’28 “There are so many ways to be involved in the music program, and I love the community with my friends in Madeleines and the Bell Choir. It has helped me find my voice and also feel closer to God.”
Mason V. ’33 20
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Scan here to follow @shgreenwicharts on Instagram!
Keep up with Sacred Heart Greenwich Arts on Instagram! Scan to follow @shgreenwicharts