ArtFest May 22!

We’re excited to invite you to this year’s Art Fest, and we’re mixing things up a bit! In addition to enjoying student artwork displayed throughout the building, families can take part in creation stations for hands-on art-making fun!

All our grade levels are deep into their preparation of music to share at Art Fest on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Mark your calendars! Art walk, art making activities, and a few student busking ensembles can be enjoyed throughout the school from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m., and the main grade level musical presentations will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the gym. You won’t want to miss the special welcome ensemble the third-grade students are preparing to kick off the program, so plan to be in your seat at 6:15 p.m.! If you’re late, you’ll hear the drums calling you to the gym.

Student Art Submissions

Students are welcome to submit artwork to be displayed during ArtFest. Submission forms will be sent home. All artwork must be turned in by May 16 and should include the student’s name and class. Please note: All artwork will be returned to students after the event.

Artwork can be: Created at school or at home, 2D or 3D, Framed or unframed If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at jmpierce@seattleschools.org. Looking forward to celebrating our young artists with you! ~ Yours in art, Mrs. Hall

Music at ArtFest!

In addition, our kindergarten and first grade musicians are halfway through a residency with artists from the Rhapsody Project. They have been learning about heritage through songs and games from American Roots music. We are expecting guests from the Rhapsody Project to join us at ArtFest to perform with our K/1 students, as well as with the fourth graders they worked with earlier in the year (who will be showcasing their knowledge of the Blues). It will be a special performance you won’t want to miss!

For the third year in a row, we are fortunate to have Suchitra Iyer from Ragamala teaching Hindustani vocal music to our second-grade singers. If you are not familiar with this beautiful, sophisticated, and historically deep music, please come learn more from our B.F. Day second graders who have been working hard to learn this challenging art form. I am very proud of how they have been rising to the occasion to learn how to sing music from a culture many of us are unfamiliar with.

Our fifth-grade students will be giving us a fitting sendoff (or perhaps giving themselves a fitting sendoff ) as they conclude the program of their final ArtFest at B.F. Day. They will be playing a Trinidadian song in a modified steel pan ensemble. We got to spend a little time with Kimani Bishop, PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at University of Washington, earlier this year learning about the history and culture of Trinidad and steel pan music. We hope to make Kimani and our B.F. Day family proud with our stellar performance!  ~ Musically yours, Miss Bethany