Open house shows off Taylor's arts facility

May 26—There was a time when it was an elementary school. It was also a middle school.

But now, it's a full-fledged arts facility where there's a dedicated room for seemingly every art, band and choir class.

The art programs at Taylor Community Schools have been housed in the annex building on the main campus for some time, but a little rebranding aims to let the community know arts thrive at the small school.

The annex building is now called the Titan Academy of the Arts. It houses the band, choir and arts departments.

An open house Tuesday evening gave the community a chance to tour the building and talk to staff and students about all of Taylor's offerings.

Morgan DeBard, a sophomore, could tell you how to make glass beads.

You'll want to take a piece of glass and slowly heat it with a torch flame. Be sure to wear goggles, and heat it slowly so the glass doesn't pop.

As the glass heats, it gets flexible. DeBard took the hot glass and wrapped it around a metal stick, shaping into a bead. It'll cool for a day before she slips it off the stick.

"I didn't know this was a class until last year when I was a freshman," DeBard said. "I've always been a big jewelry person."

Taylor High School is the only school in Howard County that offers a glass bead making class.

It was the idea of art teacher MaryAnne Dishon, who took a similar class at Kokomo Opalescent Glass.

"I fell in love it, and thought my kids can do that," she said.

Dishon makes her students pass a glass-making safety test with a 100% before they turn a torch on.

The class participates in the Beads of Courage program. The program partners with hospitals across the country and world to provide beads to children suffering from serious illnesses.

The different colored beads represent their experiences coping with ailments. A white bead signifies chemotherapy, magenta represents an emergency or ambulance ride. Brown is for hair loss; yellow is for an overnight hospital stay.

The beads are meant to help children tell their story.

The Titan Academy of the Arts is split into two wings: one for art, the other for band and choir.

On the art side, there are seven classrooms. They are for pottery, ceramics, drawing and painting. There's one for almost every medium.

The teachers who make use of the arts building know how lucky they are.

"I have no idea how I taught all this out of two rooms," Dishon said.

Bill Brubaker, a Taylor School Board member, has seen the impact a good arts program can make on a student.

Brubaker's son Douglas graduated from Taylor. It's where he tapped into his artistic ability. Today, he's a tattoo artist at Bohemian Tattoo Club.

"This is the best kept secret in Howard County," Brubaker said of his alma mater's art programs.

Over on the band side, Max Johnson never has to compete for field time for his marching band.

They use an old gym, which doubles as the winter guard practice area.

"I'm completely spoiled, and I know it," said Johnson, who is the high school band director. "This probably sets us apart from every other school in Howard County."

Band is the most popular extracurricular activity at Taylor with about 240 students. So much so, the school district hired a middle school band director.

The band has grown to a point where Taylor High School will have a junior varsity and varsity band next year. Johnson said it's meant to ease the transition for some students into marching band competitions.

And like with art, there is plenty of classroom space.

There are multiple rooms for small rehearsals and practices. One room is dedicated to drumline.

"Every room is fully functional now," Johnson said. "We don't have to move things around."

Some students bounce back and forth between art and band.

Angelo Anders is one of them.

Not only did he earn a gold with distinction at the Indiana State School Music Association's state solo and ensemble event, the senior also won first place and best in show in the Art off the Square competition.

The winning piece, an acrylic painting, depicts a friend of Anders flipping through records at Black Wax Café.

Dishon is Anders' aunt. He said she always encouraged him to make art.

"I was wanting to try out some art classes in high school .... And it snowballed from there," Anders said.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.