Arts Alive 2021 will come alive on Saturday

David Irvine, Henderson (N.C.) Daily Dispatch
·2 min read

Apr. 21—HENDERSON — The many talents of Vance County students will be on display for the community — and the world — on Saturday.

It's Arts Alive 2021, a virtual show featuring the performing and graphic art talents of local young people. It will be a full day of the arts: Master Classes will begin at 8 a.m., The Art Gallery will open at 3 p.m. and The Showcase will go live at 6:45 p.m. with performances beginning at 7 p.m.

All of this can be accessed at http://bit.ly/ArtsAliveWebsite.

Andrew Markoch, director of fine arts and innovation for the Vance County Schools, is overseeing the operation.

Mark Hopper and the staff of McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center recorded the student performances and assembled them for the virtual concert that will be livestreamed.

"I'll be interested to see what Mark and his team at McGregor will do to put it together," Markoch said. He invited connoisseurs of the arts to "be in attendance on Saturday night wherever they are."

Art teacher Nicholas Barrett is overseeing the development of the art gallery. "It will look like you're walking through a gallery," Markoch said.

In addition to the Saturday afternoon showing, clips of students' art work will be displayed between acts during the evening Showcase event.

Master Classes will offer instruction in elementary music, band, dance and art.

Students began getting into the spirit this week. On "Throwback Monday" they were encouraged to wear Arts Alive gear from past years. On "Hashtag Tuesday" they used the hashtag #artsalive2021 in their Tweets. They were asked to show off their Arts Alive buttons on "Button Bling Wednesday." And Thursday is set aside as a day to "Artsify Your Classroom."

Arts Alive is a showcase for the talents of students in Vance County Schools. Since 2017, student performers and graphic artists have displayed their talents on stage in McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center and in the gallery between the theater and Perry Memorial Library.

But in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Arts Alive off the stage and out of the gallery. This year, the school system was determined to find a way to revive the tradition, Markoch said. The solution was to go virtual.

The live-streamed show will replace the McGregor Hall live performances of past Arts Alive shows. Although it is a crisis-inspired alternative, live streaming has one advantage over a live show, Markoch said: It can be accessed from anywhere by anyone.