For every showcase presented by the Fine Arts Academy, a theme is chosen to be represented by the artists through the multiple strands offered: visual, dance, choir, instrumental, theatrical and creative writing. Sophomore Kyle Showalter is in the theatrical and choir strands.

“I think it’s important for us to get ourselves out there so we can [get] more publicity and [recruit] more people. This is a very new academy; it’s only like five years old, whereas the STEM academy is however many years old. It’d be nice to have a couple more people,” Showalter said.

On Monday, Oct. 24, the year’s first showcase was held with the theme “In My Mind’s Eye.” With several different strands, the interpretations differed based on the approach the artist wanted to take.

“I wanted to somehow collaborate my theater strand and my choir strand together as a performance that showed how, in my mind’s eye, there’s music everywhere. I decided to write a monologue called radio, because my mind is practically a radio,” Showalter said.

Junior Nick Burzumato plays percussion in the instrumental strand, and enjoys the challenge that he is faced with during a project such as this.

“My favorite part of the instrumental strand is the challenge it creates for things like this. It’s really really hard to come up with projects to do [because]… music is really hard for people to interpret literally, so the challenge it creates [is] of communicating what you’re trying to say just through sound,” Burzumato said.

Burzumato’s status as a musician is sometimes discredited due to his instrument, the drums. He wanted to use this theme to address the issue.

“What I tried to show was how, in my mind’s eye, I really am a musician. Even though I get mocked a lot for playing rhythms and beats instead of actual melodies… [but] music is any two notes put together,” Burzumato said.

Last year, the showcases had one word themes for a simple but bold statement. This year, inspiration was taken from Hamlet as the academy graduated to phrases.

“In the past, we’ve done single word showcases, where the entire idea is based off a single word. One of the things that we talked about last year in our meeting is [how] we’re far enough ahead in our artistic careers to where we can take a phrase and turn that into a project. I really liked that we decided to go with a phrase for this one. It worked really well, and I liked the end results of everyone’s performances,” Burzumato said.

The showcases also provide an opportunity for artists to step outside of their comfort zones and blend different strands.

“This year in Fine Arts Academy, we’re studying cultures and cultures of art. I really enjoy the FAA because of how it brings together all the arts. I want to learn more about all the other art strands, not just my own. That’s the goal of the entire academy,” Burzumato said.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Forrest Matter

Junior Naomi Gelberg-Hagmaier's piece of art sits on display in the auditorium