Arts Department

Art, Theater and More!

“AN EVENING OF ART”
EPS ANNUAL K-12 FINE & PERFORMING ARTS EXHIBITION

On April 10th, 2025 the EPS Art Department hosted their Annual K-12 Fine & Performing Arts Exhibition. The event showcased K-12 visual art, live performances by our theatre and dance students and hands-on artmaking activities. The community was brought together by “an evening of art.” Families and friends had the opportunity to come together to paint, sculpt in clay, make friendship bracelets, color, collage and choose designs for face-painting. It was a wonderful evening seeing everyone together enjoying art.

The Whittier School performed some songs from their Disney’s Descendants performance. The Lafayette School performed a snippet from their Annie KIDS performance. The EHS Theatre Company performed a student written monologue. The EHS Dance Ensemble and the Haitian Heritage Club closed out the night with amazing dance performances.

Students showcased hundreds of artworks of a vast-array. From drawings and paintings to weavings, collage, 2D & 3D mixed media, pottery, ceramics, stitching, soft sculpture, jewelry and hand-painted wooden skate-decks, the students shined during this event.

The event also included a visit by local artist Ruth K. Henry, who is collaborating with EPS students and the EPS community on crosswalk murals that will be painted around Everett High. Ruth engaged with the community to gather their ideas for the upcoming mural paintings.

SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS
Honorable Mention Winner: Shaeendra Hall

art by Shaeendra Hall

Shaeendra Hall won an “Honorable Mention Award” for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Shaeendra showed excellence in technical skill in her fabric drapery charcoal drawing, which she drew from life (direct observation.)

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THEATRE ARTS

EVERETT HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE COMPANY
The Everett High School Theatre Company performed, 146 Point Flame at the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild competition. “This piece is based on the historic 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. Through words, movement and music, four young women share their dreams, thoughts, fears and feelings about their ultimate destinies. An Italian immigrant, Vincenza, shares her last night on Earth with romance, smiles and dancing. Tessa celebrates her life with a story about her brother and mother. Sisters Lena and Yetta meditate on the strength and endurance of moving from Russia to America and the parallels of moving from life to the afterlife. Touching and poetic, this piece illuminates the definition of human courage.”

The EHS Theatre Co. took home the following awards:
Gianna Rodriguez Sanchez: METG 3rd Place in the Doug Ingalls Monologue Contest:

METG High School Theatre Festival: Preliminary Round Winners

Gianna Rodriguez Sanchez: All-star award for Excellence in acting

Anthony Santizo: All-star Excellence for Award in acting

Rebecca Louine: All-star award for Excellence in acting

Anne Souza: All-star award for Excellence in assistant director/stage management

Jasmine Salvador Lopez: All-star award for Excellence in Sound design

Isabella Vaz and Sophia Melo: All-star award for Excellence in Costume design

METG High School Theatre Festival: Semi-Finals Round Winners

Gianna Rodriguez Sanchez: for All-star award: Excellence in acting

Olivia Laidlaw and Dannie Foster: for All-star award: Excellence in acting

Anne Souza: All-star award for Technical Excellence in assistant director/stage management

Jasmine Salvador Lopez: All-star award for Technical Excellence in Sound design

Isabella Vaz and Sophia Melo: All-star award for Technical Excellence in Costume Design

Rayssa Castro: All-Star Award for Technical Excellence in stage management

The EHSTC’S final performance of the year, Honk! JR. “is a heartwarming celebration of being different that is sure to delight audiences of all ages with its sparkling wit, unique charm and memorable score. Witty and hilarious, but also deeply moving, Honk! JR. will treat your audiences to equal amounts of laughter and tears. Ugly looks quite a bit different from his darling duckling brothers and sisters. The other animals on the farm are quick to notice and point this out, despite his mother's protective flapping. Feeling rather foul about himself, the little fowl finds himself on an adventure of self-discovery, all the while unknowingly outwitting a very hungry Cat. Along the way, Ugly meets a whole flock of unique characters and finds out being different is not a bad thing to be.”

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ANNIE KIDS
The Lafayette School performed Annie KIDS. “Based on the popular comic strip and adapted from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, with a beloved book and score by Tony Award-winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, Annie KIDS features everyone’s favorite little redhead in her very first adventure. Little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Annie is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations, finding a new home and family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

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DISNEY’S DESCENDANTS

The Whittier School’s performance of Disney’s Descendants is “based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, Disney's Descendants: The Musical is a brand-new musical jam-packed with comedy, adventure, Disney characters, and hit songs from the films! Imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost – home of the most infamous villains who ever lived – the teenaged children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil have never ventured off the island… until now. When the four troublemakers are sent to attend prep school alongside the children of beloved Disney heroes, they have a difficult choice to make: should they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good?”

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STORYBOOK COURT: FULL OF BEANS
By Tracy Wells

The Parlin School’s performance of Storybook Court: Full of Beans by Tracy Wells tells the story of “Jack Beans is on trial for theft, and it’s up to your audience to determine if he’s guilty or innocent! In this madcap courtroom comedy, Jack and his lawyer Big Bad Wolf go head to head with Mrs. Helga Giant and her lawyer Red Riding Hood on Storybook Court to determine if Jack is guilty of stealing the Giants’ gold, goose, and harp. With plenty of well-known characters as witnesses and members of the jury, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this trial will end. The Gingerbread Man could hardly sit still through the trial, and Grouchy was awfully... well... grouchy through the whole thing. But when juror member Sleeping Beauty falls sound asleep, it’s the audience that must vote to determine Jack’s fate!”

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NATURE JOURNALING

With Sandy McDermott

The Arts + Sciences paired up for a high school field trip on nature journaling with artist Sandy McDermott. “Sandy is a U.S.-based artist whose work is deeply interlaced with nature. Specializing in field sketching and watercolors, she captures the beauty and complexity of flora and fauna directly from the environment.

For the past four years, she has immersed herself in Alaska’s untamed landscapes, using her field journal and sketching tools to document its unique light, towering summits, vast tundra, and intricate ecosystems. This exploration of Alaska’s awe-inspiring yet imposing wilderness will culminate in her first art book.” Students were introduced to the process of field journaling and drawing through the lens of examining the natural world for its beauty and its science. Students then participated in their own field journaling.

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EVERETT CROSSWALK MURALS

With Ruth K. Henry

EHS Art students collaborated with the Everett Transportation Department and local artist, Ruth K. Henry for an upcoming art installation in the City of Everett. The art installation poses 3 crosswalk murals around Everett High School to slow down traffic by engaging the community with artistic expression and elements. The theme of the crosswalks is “Community.” These crosswalk murals will exhibit flowers and textile patterns from around the globe to represent the community of Everett. Students collaborated with the artist on the choice of flowers and textiles. The crosswalk murals are set to be installed Summer of 2025.

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BOSTON ARCHITECTURAL COLLEGE VISIT

The BAC visited Everett High School for a college visit to discuss their architectural program offerings. The visit caught the interest of almost 70 EHS students spanning across multiple disciplines including the Arts, Sciences and Carpentry. Students engaged in a presentation and a question and answering session following. Students were provided with program information to take with them.

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EPS ARTS + EVERETT ART LAB

Everett Public Schools and Art Lab Everett collaborated on an art program that provides free Art Lab tuition to 5th-12th grade EPS students. The program consists of art making workshops at Art Lab Everett. Students are provided the opportunity to have directed/guided art making activities and open studio time for art making, use of Art Lab facility and art supplies at Art Lab Everett. All supplies are included, free of cost.