Autumn and the Arts

Welcome to the fall edition of our seasonal newsletter celebrating art and music education in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. I am Dan Umstead and I serve as the Principal in Charge of Visual and Performing Arts here. I have the pleasure of spending my days engaged with the talented artists, musicians, actors and performers...that's students and staff...across HVRSD.

The arts in fall at HV means marching bands, seasonal drama on stage and artists representing the beautiful colors of autumn in multiple media...including pumpkins! Its a beautiful time of year here in the Valley and I am pleased to share just some of what our students and teachers have been doing to take advantage of all the fall has to offer!

Additional editions of the Seasonal Arts Showcase will be released in winter, spring and summer. Hope you enjoy this brief summary of some of the special things happening in the arts at HVRSD!

Happy Fall y'all!

Art Educators of New Jersey is a non-profit association created in 1939 by art educators interested in advocating for the visual arts education in our state. Their purpose is to promote and maintain the highest degree of quality Visual Arts instruction in New Jersey’s schools.

The Distinguished Achievement Award was established to honor a member of the association whose long-term dedication to the visual art profession and dedication to AENJ goals, leadership, and teaching experiences are recognized as exemplary.

From the association board, " (Ms. Durr's)...outstanding achievements and remarkable contributions have earned (her) this well-deserved recognition."

Congratulations Ms. Durr!

Students at Toll Gate are currently working on a school wide quilting project funded through a Hopewell Valley Educational Foundation grant. Our artist is Mrs. Van Der Ree, a skilled quilter who is local to Pennington. Students collected clothing to be used in the quilt, submitted designs, and attended a quilting assembly. From October 21st-25th they are making our school quilt during art class with the assistance of Mrs. Van Der Ree and parent/guardian volunteers. Students are helping with many aspects of the quilt's creation, with third, fourth, and fifth graders having the opportunity to use sewing machines. The quilt will be unveiled at the Pennington Day Quilt Show in May 2025, then hung for display in the 5th grade stairwell at Toll Gate.

Seventh and eighth grade artists studied close up images and videos of the human eye. We also looked at our own eye close up in the mirror. Students practiced color blending techniques to create a unique iris and pupil. Students practiced pencil shading techniques to create the illusion of a round eyeball, adding veins for realistic detail. The result is a spooky hallway display, just in time for Halloween! Some artists also created origami bats and ghosts to fill in between the eyeballs.

Ms. Muschinske's Grade 7 Art class is doing a form of mindful drawing called Neurographia. We tune in to our breath and accept whatever lines are coming out of our hands, even if they're wobbly or imperfect. We try to drop and relax our shoulders as we draw. We inhale deeply, exhaling slowly through our mouths while focusing on our lines. Eighth graders are creating Timberwolf masks from recycled cardboard and paper mache.

Drawing inspiration from adinkra, an art form from Ghana, World Arts students created "proverb textiles" that communicate a personally meaningful saying or expression. Students designed and carved original symbol stamps, dyed the cloth, and then stamped their symbols on the fabric to create patterns.

HVRSD has been named a "Best Community for Music Education" 10 times in recent years. Congratulations to our PK-12 music educators and a BIG THANK YOU to the arts-loving HV community for supporting our programs!

The Arts are Alive in HoVal!

After over 35 of teaching instrumental music at Hopewell Elementary School, we share our best wishes to Ms. Janet Mills as she moves into retirement. The HES community turned out to celebrate Ms. Mills with a Fall Square Dance Fastival, which provided Janet with one last opportunity to lead her exceptional elementary ensembles.

Congratulations Ms. Mills and thank you for all that you've done for our students, schools and community!

As part of their education outreach program, BRAVO, members of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra visit HVRSD students in grades 2-5 each year for an “Informance” (Informative Performance). This visiting artist series brings professional musicians directly to our students and culminates with one grade level traveling to Richardson Auditorium to see the full orchestra perform! This is a desireable program with many applicants and we are so fortunate to have been involved since its inception. Many districts in the area are still on waiting lists to participate. Pictured here is members of the string section performing for Bear Tavern 2nd graders

Mr. Harding has shared a few shots from the Marching Black and Gold, whi are wrapping up another successful season. Also featured here is a photo from the HVCHS Wind Ensemble's recent perfomance at West Chester University, where they were invited to share the stage with the acclaimed West Chester Wind Ensemble, notably one of the top collegiate ensembles in the state of Pennsylvania. Congratulations to all of our band performers!

In the vein of films like Paranormal Activity and shows like Ghost Hunters, HVCHS recently wrapped up their new adaptation of the classic legend of Bloody Mary with their fall play "Ghost Stories", written by Mickey Fisher. Elly, a YouTuber who goes by the name of Ghost Girl, led a band of intrepid ghost hunters to the home of Mary Worth, and was determined to try to uncover the truth behind the legend of Bloody Mary. This show provided plenty of scares and lots of fun...with huge audience reactions for each performance! Thank you to the cast, crew, directors and sponsors for a wonderful, frightful production!

Dance 2 has been learning the original Broadway choreography from “One”, the iconic finale from Michael Bennett’s “A Chorus Line”. Students have been working on their individual technical skills and ensemble performance skills through this unit of study.

Intro to dance students learned about Vintage Jazz, an important era in the history of jazz dance. In small groups, intro students created short dances that utilized authentic dance steps and big band music.

These are photos from our recent West African Dance workshop with Miss Jeannine Osayande of Dunya Performing Arts Company. All of our CHS and TMS dancers enjoyed learning traditional dance steps of the Guinean dance, Soli, and rehearsing with the live drummer, Mr. Steve.

The HVCHS Orchestra is busy preparing for their upcoming Winter Concert on Monday, December 9th, in the PAC at 7:00 p.m. Featured on the program will be such exciting works as Sleigh Ride, Themes from Scheherazade and the professional orchestral version of Enchanted. I would also like to congratulate HVCHS Orchestra violinist, senior, Franklin Wang on his upcoming solo Holiday Tour with the professional Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea. He won a $5,000 dollar scholarship and solo tour in their competition. The photo shows Franklin on the first of his tour stop with the orchestra as he performed Por Una Cabeza with the full professional symphony in a sold out show at the Algonquin Theatre in Manasquan, N.J. on November 3rd.

The Central High School and Timberlane Middle School performing arts programs are supported by a high-energy, high yield set of wonderful parents and community members...the Music Theatre Parents Association (MTPA).

The MTPA holds a virtual meeting during the first Wednesday of every month at 7pm.

PLEASE NOTE: November's meeting was moved to November 13, due to conferences.

The meeting zoom link is https://zoom.us/j/96577035389

Please visit https://hvmtpa.square.site/ for more information on the MTPA or register to be a part of the MTPA email list here: https://tinyurl.com/joinmtpa