EL CENTRO — From dance, tall flags and cheer, to drumline, orchestra and walls of masterpieces painted in the cubist style, the collective efforts of thousands of El Centro Elementary School District students were on display during the 14th annual Arts Festival.
Representing the efforts of the 12 schools of the district, this year’s festival on Wednesday, March 27, at Kennedy Middle School showcased a wide array of artistic talents for friends, family and staff alike.
Each of the schools in the district had an interactive arts booth featuring various activities such as coloring, drawing, crafting shapes out of Play-Doh, a bracelet-making station and more. A massive art gallery featuring the 2024 artistic theme of “cubism” was at the far end of the festival in the gymnasium, with thousands of students’ artwork on display.
Among the students, De Anza Magnet School sixth-grader Giselle Ponce came to enjoy the arts festival with a classmate and her mom, including a visit by her school’s booth. Ponce took a turn with the musical lesson that her school’s booth provided. Teachers Sylvia Ortiz and Steven Lopez were showing students how to play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” by associating certain colors with each musical note.
Ponce’s mom said she appreciated the arts festival and all the programs offered at her school. She shared, “(Giselle) used to do drill team with the school, and she does cheer outside of school, too,” although she is currently more focused on her studies than the arts programs.
PTA Contributions and Family Supporters
In the school’s outdoor eating area, Martha Cabrera sold tostadas and sodas with other Lincoln Elementary Parent-Teacher Association volunteers to feed and raise funds to support their school’s students.
Cabrera has a fifth-grade son and third-grade daughter that both participate in their After School Education and Safety programs, and was happy to donate time to the cause with her parental peers.
Cabrera said that her son plays guitar in ASES while her daughter is in an art program. “They love it, and on the side they do mariachi. … I really like that they offer music though, “ she said gratefully.
“My son is also in band, and he plays the trumpet,” she added, saying that both her children are on the creative side.
As for the list of PTA’s goals on Wednesday, Cabrera shared, “For this goal, we’re trying to donate some bikes and have some giveaways at the end of the year, and also we want to get uniforms for some of the kids that can’t purchase them, and books for the library, too.”
The parental support provided much-needed fundraising and was an essential piece of a smooth operation overall for ECESD, feeding the thousands of people roaming the campus, offering snacks like churritos, popcorn and pizza slices being sold for the various schools.
Away from the food area, toward the outdoor performance area, one grandmother was practically begging for somebody to brag about her grandchildren’s artistic abilities to, and the Chronicle obliged. Although she didn’t share her name with the paper, the El Centro resident was happy to chat about her grandchildren who attend Wilson Junior High School.
The grandmother shared that two of her grandchildren, Giselle and Manuel, had art displays in the gymnasium, while her grandson, Herman, played trumpet in the school band. “They played really good,” she said proudly of the performance, which was the opening entertainment on the schedule for the outdoor venue.
“I’m so happy to see all their artwork, they’re so proud of it,” she said with a smile.
Cubism in the Art Gallery
The festival was spread out across the middle school’s campus, encompassing the gymnasium, which sat behind the outdoor performance stage, and two outdoor walkways lined with booths offering activities from each school in the district.
Joy Ceasar, an El Centro Elementary district administrator and director in the Educational Services Department, welcomed families into the gymnasium where artwork was sorted from kindergarten up front to eighth-graders on the further rows, all featuring the student’s interpretation of the cubism theme for 2024’s festival.
“We have 12 schools in the district and all 12 schools produced art for this,” Ceasar shared, giving some insight into the festival’s design.
“Cubism is our theme this year, and we already picked our theme for next year,” she continued with a grin, but wasn’t ready to give away the news just yet.
“We’ve had themes before but this year we centered it around a specific artistic concept,” she added.
The art displayed reflected the cubism style with colorful and abstract designs in paintings, drawings, masks, sculptures, and other three-dimensional masterpieces. The gymnasium-turned-art-gallery also featured interactive digital art, and Ceasar happily added, “This year we added interactive painting, and people have been painting those all night,” she gestured behind her to three canvases with unique abstract designs on them from the hands of dozens of students.
Ceasar explained that the art festival wasn’t just a one-night event either. “During the week, every single student in our district comes through on a field trip and tours the art. We make sure the kids can see their art, then tell their parents about it and get them to come tonight.
“The leadership students with Kennedy Middle School led the tour for all the students for the last three days, and they’ve been great,” she said, in addition to the array of staff and volunteers that are essential for the smooth running of the event.
With 5,000 students in the ECESD, Ceasar estimated a total of 4,000 art pieces were probably submitted for the festival. “The students look forward to it every single year,” she said, adding that, “It takes our entire district to make it happen though.”
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One clever way the ECESD decided to get students more involved in the event was to use interactive maps for the kids. “They can get stamps for coming into the art gallery, going to see a performance, and going to an interactive booth, and they take the papers back to the schools and they have some kind of reward,” she shared.
Proud Parents and Contest Winner
El Centro residents Jorge Nuñez and wife walked around the gymnasium searching for their student’s artwork, a scene that replayed over and over as families searched for their little Picasso’s masterpieces.
The Nuñez family admired third-grade Frida’s work, giving her well-earned compliments on her red apple project submitted for the festival. The Sunflower Elementary School student stood proudly next to her drawing that she competed in ACES. “Anything to do with the arts or anything performing arts she’ll be a part of,” Nuñez said about his daughter.
The ASES program at Sunflower provided the opportunity for Frida to explore her artistic side and she has flourished according to her parents, after only two years at the school. “She was new to the school and we wanted her to get involved. This is her first year as a cheerleader, second year at the school. She loves the ASES program cheer though and will sign up again,” Nuñez said, happy that his daughter has found an interest.
Award-winning mixed media artist, eighth-grader Mia Gallegos from Kennedy Middle School was hosting a meet-and-greet in the back of the gymnasium, a few rows away from young Frida, where she was talking and giving her autograph out to interested guests.
Gallegos shared her perspective on one of her pieces of award-winning art titled, “Hey! What’s up? R U OK?” submitted for the Directing Change Poster Contest for the mental health category.
The project featured a girl with flowers and butterflies around her, covering her eyes, and holding her heart in hand. The colorful poster had word art and featured a collage-style of design. “It’s about a person showing support to someone that needs … she’s showing her heart and brain with this person,” Gallegos explained, pointing out different elements.
The award-winning artist said that sometimes she doesn’t know how to explain the art, “People will ask me, ‘What does it mean?’ or ‘Who is that?’ and I don’t have all the answers.”
Gallegos’s artistic mind never stops, and is evolving as she progresses. She shared that when she started drawing, “I used to draw more anime, but then I switched my style to more realistic, and that’s what you see here,” she explained describing her work.
The Kennedy student is actively working on other projects, and she even shared that she submitted artwork for the “Doodle for Google” drawing competition recently, with an opportunity for the winner to have their work displayed on the worldwide internet search platform.
Entries closed on March 21, so Gallegos said anxiously, “Now I’m just waiting to hear if I won or not.”