A note from the Fine Arts Coordinator
Hello and welcome back from Winter Break!
First of all, I want to give a huge thank you for the many ways you have supported the Fine Arts at IC Imagine, especially the very first Fine Arts Winter Market. We raised over $3,000 that will go directly to supporting the arts at IC Imagine!
Our wonderful Booster Club is up and running and already planning amazing events to support the Fine Arts. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, February 25th, from 8:00-9:30 am, in the MS/US Chorus room. All are welcome to join us!
An email communication was sent out earlier this month regarding another way you can support the Fine Arts at IC Imagine. We have several dates that we need volunteers to help at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center’s Concession Stand. Make sure to sign up if this is of interest to you.
Thank you to the parents who are taking on the role of Parent Lead in the Booster Club.
Band: Kathy McElreath and Winslow Dean
Chorus: Kinsey Bevilacqua
Theater: Kerri Eudy
We are still in need of a parent(s) to take on the lead for Visual Arts. Please reach out if this sounds like something you can do!
Lastly, we have an official social media page for the Fine Arts of IC Imagine. Thank you to Ashleigh Watkins for organizing this, and make sure to follow us @ICImagineFineArts.
Finally, 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
Middle and Upper School band students have hit the ground running in the new year. We are excited to see their continuing progress, and we thank you for supporting their musical growth!
Congratulations to Henry Bond, Rebecca Owings, Shiv Patel, Merrett McElreath, and Avett Humes for being selected as performers in the 2026 Western Region All-District Band. These students will rehearse and perform in the honor band at WCU, with a performance on February 8th. More details on this to come.
High School All-District auditions will be held on Thursday, January 22nd at Tuscola HS. Congratulations to Jude Wall on his successful audition for the Western-Region Jazz Ensemble for the second year in a row! His performance with the ensemble will be on February 14th at Asheville High School.
Make sure to look out for information regarding the Jazz Concert Fundraising Dinner, which will be held on February 24th from 5:00 pm-6:30 pm.
Middle and Upper School Chorus
“Spring” time is an exciting time in Chorus! We have many exciting events coming up, and the students are hard at work preparing for these events:
US Virtual MPA-March 4th
US MPA-March 10th
Spring Chorus Concert-March 17th
MS MPA-March 18th
US Spring Trip to Disney World-April 15th-19th
MS Spring Trip to Dollywood-April 24th
Congratulations to Junior Veda Rhodin on her selection to the 77th Mars Hill University Choral Festival! Veda will be attending a special rehearsal on Thursday, January 22nd, and then will be participating in the Festival on February 6-7, with a performance open to the public the evening of the 7th.
The Middle School Choruses are hard at work preparing for their Spring Concert and their Music Performance Adjudications the very next day! They have been learning how to read their own music, both with rhythm and pitch, and will demonstrate this, along with their performances, at MPAs.
The Upper School Choruses had their final fundraiser to help fund their Spring trip to Disney. They hosted a Lower School Sock Hop themed Generation Dance. It was a huge success, and they raised close to $3000 for their trip! Thank you to the parents and community members who generously donated food items, money, and time!
The Upper School Choruses are also preparing for their Spring Concert and Music Performance Adjudications. Several members who are taking honors chorus are preparing to film pieces to be submitted virtually for adjudication, and all of the choruses are hard at work preparing their MPA pieces, as well as their sight reading skills.
In the Theater World
Lower School Theater
Rehearsals are in full swing for our lower school production. Here is a sneak peak at rehearsal:
Make sure to mark your calendars for the Lower School Musical, “The Lion King Kids”, happening March 11th-13th.
Middle School Theater
Middle School Theatre students are moving into Q3, where both MS classes will begin the production and rehearsal process for their unique end of year performances in the Fine Arts Showcase.
Middle School Theatre Arts Beginner students will learn the foundations of slapstick and comedy and clowning with Commedia Dell’Arte, before preparing their Sock-Puppet production of William Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors”.
Middle School Theatre Arts Intermediate students will be choosing between scripts for “The Phantom Tollbooth” and “James and the Giant Peach” to decide which one-act production they would like to perform at the end of the year.
Both Middle School Theatre performances will take place during the Fine Arts Showcase at the end of the year - scheduled for Friday, June 5, from 5-7 pm in the IPAC.
Upper School Theater
Theatre Arts I students are moving into Q3 by learning how to write and edit their own monologues for performance, as well as learning more about the history of theatre through Roman and Renaissance eras.
Our combined Theatre Arts Class is starting the creative process that will culminate in an original, 30-minute, devised piece that will also be performed at the Fine Arts Showcase.
ITS - The next meeting of the International Thespian Society will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, January 21, at noon in Theatre Room 2202. ITS members will be discussing details about the upcoming State Thespian Competition at Eastern Carolina University in March, as well as planning fundraisers for our Spring Musical - The Little Mermaid.
The Little Mermaid - Rehearsal Calendars and Production Contracts will be available for all cast members to pick up tomorrow, Wednesday, January 21 in the Theatre Room after lunch. Students should stop by the Theatre Room to make sure they pick up both.
In the Visual Arts World
Lower School Visual Art
Fourth-grade students are exploring fiber art by studying three fiber artists, including two local artists, Neil Goss and Judit Just. As they learn about these artists and their techniques, students are preparing looms and will soon create their own fiber artworks through the process of weaving.
All other grade levels are studying design and examining how art skills play a role in the creation of nearly every object we interact with in daily life. Our focus is on automotive design, where students learn how creativity, problem-solving, and visual art skills influence the cars we see on the road.
Students also spend time learning about the life and career of Ed Welburn, one of the most successful and influential car designers in history.
Fifth-grade students take the design process a step further by moving their car designs onto the computer, where they develop digital art skills and apply design principles using digital tools.
Middle School Visual Art
The world of middle school visual arts keeps spinning. Since we have been back from winter break, we have been hard at work.
6th and 7th grade have been busy designing murals for the halls of our school. In addition to creating their designs, students then have to prepare a pitch for Mr. Bell or Mrs. Bourque where they convince them that they should be allowed to put their mural in a location that they have scouted. Students must consider the scale of their work, the audience, and whether or not they feel confident that they will be able to complete the job successfully.
Last week, there were quite a few pitches that were approved. That means that students will practice a portion of their mural on the wall in my classroom before beginning their final product in the halls of our school.
8th graders have begun work on an assignment that I do every year, where they get to work on a personal project. For this project, the options are wide open. Students have to plan for 10 class periods. How they will use their time to most effectively create a final product.
This is a wonderful opportunity that students do a wonderful job taking advantage of. This year, I have students working with ceramics, watercolors, acrylic paint, oil pastel,s and pen and ink drawing. Just this week, one of my 8th graders told me that he was proud of himself for the work he was doing on his drawing. (So rare to hear these words from an 8th grader, and it reinforces the whole idea for this project.) I look forward to sharing images of our progress very soon.
Upper School Visual Art
Ceramics 1 students have been busy completing the construction of their slab boxes, and now they are in the kiln firing! They now move on to learning about consistency in the creation of pottery. They are building a set of 4 mugs with a theme.
Ceramics 2 and 3
Students are sharpening their wheel skills. They too are creating a set of mugs - their challenge is to throw 4 mugs of similar size and shape!!! Quite the challenge.
Art 3 and 4
Students are finishing their reduction prints, and then they move on to their painting unit! Watercolor, here we come!
Congratulations to Kiera Krupnik on receiving a Silver Key from The Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards for her reduction print. It will be on display at the Asheville Museum of Art from Feb. 25th through March 22nd.
Exciting news for Next Year- We will be starting an Applied Arts Class- this class will focus on what is usually referred to as Arts and Crafts( traditional functional arts). We will look at the creation of functional works of art and their techniques. We will look at fabric and textile design (dying techniques, batiking), sewing (quilting), jewelry design and construction, basketry, and logo and product design. This is just a taste of what we will be looking at in this class and some of the techniques we will explore. This class will be open to grades 9-12!
Art 1
Many of these beautiful cards were created in preparation for the Winter Market. Students were excited to display their work and enjoyed the process of creating artwork with a real-world purpose—pieces that could potentially be sold. This experience helped students connect craftsmanship, creativity, and presentation to an authentic audience.
Art 2
Students are currently creating three-dimensional sculptural objects, giving them a break from our usual studio routines. This project allows students to work with new materials, experiment with form, and explore alternative approaches to making while expanding their problem-solving skills.
Intro to Stained Glass
The second quarter was a busy and productive one. Students created multiple sun catchers for the Winter Market and gained hands-on experience with the stained glass process. We are now working on small panel pieces, and I’m excited to see the finished results of the next few assignments.
3D Sculpture
We are coming off a successful Winter Market where students created a wide variety of objects. Currently, students are working on butterfly sculptures made from recycled soda cans and natural branches. These pieces will be displayed as soon as they are complete.
In more exciting News! Stained Glass II is coming in August, so be sure to sign up fast!
Stained Glass II provides students with an advanced exploration of the art and craftsmanship of stained glass design. Building upon foundational skills from Stained Glass I, this course challenges students to apply creative problem-solving, advanced construction techniques, and design innovation. Students will produce original works that demonstrate both technical mastery and personal artistic expression. This course supports the school’s Fine Arts vision by fostering creativity, craftsmanship, and real-world application through opportunities such as the Winter Market and school art exhibitions, where students may display and sell their work.