Arts festival at Lincoln School will celebrate variety of art performed by local students

Perry County schools will celebrate the arts with an arts festival at Lincoln School on March 19.

The festival will be held in Lincoln School’s Phillips Memorial Auditorium, 207 Lincoln Street in Marion from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free to the public.

Dr. Allison Upshaw, an actress, educator and researcher with two degrees in vocal performance, has been working with kids in Perry County with the Alabama Artistic Literacy Consortium. She said ALC did an eight-week residency in Marion and Uniontown schools, and the festival is a way to feature some of the work the students have done.

Part of the program is to teach the importance of the arts. Upshaw said ALC research has shown the arts improve a student, academically, emotionally and socially.

“The arts make us better humans,” Upshaw said. “I think that’s important today – to be a better human. It’s important to tell our stories, whether we tell them through dance or music or through the visual arts.”

The arts are also an important part of the state’s economy, she said.

“We contribute a lot of money to the workforce in Alabama,” Upshaw said. “Not just through actors and shows, but through the community organizations, the people who build the sets for theater and dance, the electricians and welders.”

“I was one of the educators that actually went into the schools,” Upshaw said. “Music as well as visual arts became ways for them to express themselves. The music they created and the self-portraits they created were and opportunity to express themselves they don’t often get.”

Because so many people think of the arts as painting pictures or making sculptures, Upshaw said, “We wanted to make sure we offered as many possibilities. People tend to identify artists as those who do visual arts, but we want to broaden that out to music and dance and theater. So, some of the students will be acting. There are other ways to be creative and artistic.”

The festival will feature some of the artwork done by the students, and some students will perform. Artists from the community, including quilters, musicians, dancers, poets and drummers will also be on hand, according to Upshaw.

“There will also be workshops, so people can not only see, but participate,” Upshaw said. “There will be vendors with food. There will be some visual artist focusing on young kids. You’ll even have a chance to sew a quilt or participate in dance and poetry. And we provide all of the art supplies.”