A note from the Fine Arts Coordinator,
What a busy season we have ahead of us! Many amazing events for the Fine Arts are taking place in the next few weeks before Winter Break.
Winter Chorus Concert-Tuesday, 11/18, 6 pm
IC Imagine Fine Arts Winter Market, 11/20, 3:30-6:00 pm
Winter Band Concert-Thursday, 11/20, 5:30 pm
Make sure to plan on joining us for our first ever Fine Arts Winter Market! The Visual Arts department has been hard at work preparing beautiful pieces of art for purchase. Come and pick up a unique piece for a gift for the holiday season or pick out something just for you! Gift wrapping will be available, as well as some seasonal snacks and drinks for sale. This is an event you won’t want to miss!
One quick reminder, please remember that in order to participate in any IC Imagine Fine Arts event that takes place outside of school hours, students must be present for the school day for at least 3.5 hours on the day of the event. Failure to attend on the day of the event will result in not being allowed to participate in the event.
Melanye Crayton
IC Imagine Fine Arts Coordinator
In the Music World
Lower School Music
CLICK HERE to watch videos from lower school music classes. New videos are added every week!
Middle and Upper School Bands
All ICI bands are deep into preparation for their next concert!
The beginners are hard at work– learning new notes, new rhythms, and new music vocabulary each day! We have had several solo performances in class, and we are always impressed by their passion for music.
All bands are dialed in on the repertoire they will perform for our Winter Concert on November 20th, at 5:30pm in the IPAC. Don’t forget to check out the Winter Market before the concert and during intermission!
We have had some minor changes to our upcoming concert dates, listed here:
Jazz Concert 2/24/26 5:00pm
Spring Band Concert 3/19 5:30pm
Summer Band Concert 5/26 5:30pm
Also, congratulations to Julian Kasalu on his performance with the North Carolina Music Educators All State Orchestra!
Thank you for supporting the Band Program at ICI!
Middle and Upper School Chorus
In preparation for the upcoming Winter Season, the Choruses have prepared several pieces to get you in the mood for the season! From “Jingle Bells” to “Sleigh Ride”, the concert on November 18th, at 6 pm, will get you in the mood for the upcoming Winter season. Additionally, all chorus students have started to learn how to read music and are excelling! They are all able to read basic music rhythms, as well as pitches on the music staff.
A huge congratulations to Junior Veda Rhodin on her being selected to participate in the 77th Mars Hill Choral Festival in February of 2026. Hundreds of students from across North Carolina audition for this festival, and Veda was one of the ones selected to participate. With this selection comes a $92,000 scholarship to Mars Hill University if she chooses to attend there!
The US Choruses are excited to announce their final fundraiser for their Spring Chorus Trip. We will be hosting the first ever IC Imagine Lower School Generation Sock Hop Dance on Friday, January 9th, from 6:30-8:30! Tickets are $10 per person and are available on Infinite Campus. Make sure to grab yours soon because this event will definitely sell out!
In the Theater World
Lower School
We can’t wait to see our Lower School performers shine in The Lion King KIDS!
Middle & Upper School Theater
Auditions for The Little Mermaid start today (November 12) and continue through tomorrow (November 13). Auditions will begin after school and end by 5pm. There is still time to sign up for an audition spot outside of Theatre Room 2202!
This weekend, our Middle and Upper School Theatre classes will be travelling to Atlanta to see the musical Hadestown at the Fox Theatre. Hadestown is a Tony Award-winning musical by Anaïs Mitchell that weaves together two Greek myths—Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone—through a score of folk, jazz, and blues music.
Upper School Theater
Our recent production of Macbeth was a rousing success! Congratulations to the cast and crew for putting together a fantastic performance.
The next meeting of the International Thespian Society will take place at lunch on Wednesday, November 19 in Theatre Room 2202. All ITS officers, members, and prospective members should plan to attend.
In the Visual Arts World
Lower School Visual Art
For extra drawing fun check out my new youtube channel Artonomous! Draw the schoolbuilding with your student in 2-D or 3-D. I have guided drawings for all ages as well as some for practicing Spanish vocabulary. Subscribe to get updated when new videos go up.
Kindergarten-3rd
Our younger artists are exploring 3D forms through the sweet, colorful world of Wayne Thiebaud!
Kindergarten & 1st Grade are creating a single 3D slice of pie, learning how to build form and texture in their artwork.
2nd & 3rd Grade are taking it a step further by drawing an entire feast, filled with cakes, pies, and other treats inspired by Thiebaud’s signature style.
These students are studying the artwork of Spanish artist Joan Miro. We are creating surrealist abstract works and applying specific color schemes inspired by Miro.
4th Grade students are diving into the world of animation using Piskel, a free online app, to create short animations that show transformation—turning one object into another through movement and imagination.
5th graders are studying the artwork of Jose Guadalupe Posada. Posada was a printmaker in Mexico. We are now working on creating our own relief prints.
Middle School Visual Art
Where did October go? We spent most of the month learning how to work with watercolors. Here are 3 things I think you should know about our Middle School Art:
We Watercolored like Miyagi: At the beginning of the month, when we were just starting to watercolor. I had a storytime for each of my classes where I told them the story of the original Karate Kid. I told them about how Daniel was a new kid who was being bullied and wanted Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate so that he could defend himself. I then played them the attached clip.
I asked every one of my classes why they thought I wanted them to see this and how it might connect with the work that we were getting ready to do and without fail at least one student could recognize that I was asking them to do some hard and probably tedious things, but that those things would prepare us to be better artists.
I invite you to watch and consider if there might be some wax-on, wax-off tasks in your life that are ultimately making you better? (I edited the cursing out when we watched it in class.)
Landscape Makers: After we built up some watercolor muscle memory and sharpened some skills, I invited each of my students to an adult watercolor class. I have taught adult watercolor classes at the Asheville Art Museum, the Black Mountain Center for the Arts and several other locations around town. I took them through an introductory class where we painted a mountain landscape in one sitting. A few of the results are below. You should expect an email from your child with an image of their painting very soon.
Honoring an Artist: In addition to learning about watercolors, students were also charged with learning about an artist who is no longer with us. As a Day of the Dead celebration, students have made a tombstone for a famous dead artist. This week, on Wednesday, we will create a memorial garden where lower school students will be able to see the tombstones and hopefully learn a little bit about some of the amazing art in the world. Here are a few of the tombstones that have been created as of the mailing of this newsletter:
Upper School Visual Art
Ceramics 1, 2,3 -
We have been busy as elves making all kinds of wonderful things for the WINTER MARKET!!! Students have been creating and glazing ornaments, Luminaries, trinket dishes, Trivets (Hot plates) and that's just a few of the things that will be available to purchase on the 20th.
Art 3, 4
Students are finishing their colored pencil and graphite project and beginning to tackle the challenge of learning how to do reduction block printing.
Photography 1 - has been learning how to float fruit! You can see and buy some of their photos at the winter market. Our art students have been busy preparing for the upcoming Winter Market, where all proceeds will help support our Art Department. Each class has been hard at work creating a unique body of artwork to showcase their creativity and craftsmanship!
Art 1 students have done a fantastic job designing and producing handmade greeting cards and bookmarks. Their attention to detail and creativity really shine through each piece.
Art 2 students have elevated their work even further, producing an impressive variety of cards and wooden ornaments that showcase both skill and imagination.
3D Sculpture students have been experimenting with the wood burner, creating beautiful wooden ornaments, bookmarks, and custom card designs that highlight their craftsmanship and design sense.
Stained Glass students have been busy crafting a stunning assortment of glass ornaments and decorative pieces, each one showcasing intricate design and careful attention to detail.
We are incredibly proud of our students’ dedication and talent, and we can’t wait to share their amazing creations with the community at this year’s Winter Market!