Student Arts Spotlight Archive
The Student Arts Spotlight celebrates local students learning in and through the arts in Sonoma County. The feature, managed by the Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance, represents a variety of students, ages, geographic locations, and art forms. Enjoy past features in this Spotlight Archive.
Each month’s Spotlight is shared in the Creative Sonoma and Alliance newsletters, the Arts Education blog, and in social media. Learn more and submit student artwork and more and submit student artwork and performances HERE.
2023-2024 School Year
April 2024
Salmon Creek School’s middle schoolers performed “The Universe and Other Stuff – a Brief and Inaccurate History of Everything.” Almost 50 students participated in the theater production class, appearing as actors, dancers, designers, technicians and instrumental musicians. Congratulations, Harmony Union School District and Salmon Creek School!
February 2024
Sonoma County student musicians performed with other selected musicians in the Sonoma County Honor Band, NorCal Honor Choir, Jazz Band, and Concert Band. Congratulations to these students for pursuing excellence and thanks to all of the music teachers for their commitment!
January 2024
For the first time since the pandemic, the Sonoma Valley High School Pep Band has a student conductor! SVHS Senior Emmanuel Gomez has taken on the responsibility of leading the band at football games, selecting songs to play and cueing the band between the football action plays. He can be seen here conducting the National Anthem at the Homecoming game on October 27, 2023. Emmanuel is also an accomplished pianist and clarinet player.
December 2023
Student Arts Spotlight shares the good news of the arts making a difference in students’ lives in a monthly feature. Tech High School Band, 45 members strong, shared their school spirit with 8th graders who were touring the campus. Way to share the spirit, Tech High School!
November 2023
Student Arts Spotlight shares the good news of the arts making a difference in students’ lives in a monthly feature. Fifth grade students from El Verano Elementary School in Sonoma Valley performed along with member of the San Francisco Opera!
September 2023
Summer time is always a great time for more art! The Summer Artist Series from Chop’s Teen Club’s brings in outside professional artists to teach classes with the goal of creating exposure to new mediums of art including performing art, digital art, and fine art. Great job, Chop’s Teen Club!
August 2023
Student Arts Spotlight shares the good news of the arts making a difference in students’ lives in a monthly feature. This example of collaboration with Kimzin Creative, Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén, and La Luz provided Sonoma Valley students with experiences in art, dance, culinary, and nature. The camp, Aventura Artistica, offered creativity and fun for students ages 7-12. Congratulations to all!
2022-2023 School Year
July 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share summer camp joy from the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts Summer Mariachi Program! Camps are held in Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley, and Cloverdale. In Cloverdale, fifty-three students in grades 3 and older participated in the 3-week music camp. For the first time ever, a Baile Folklórico camp was also offered for students in 5th grade and older. A final performance was held in at Cloverdale High School. Congratulations to all!
June 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Petaluma City Schools’ District Arts Showcase. The event featured over 800 pieces of student art work, performances by high school jazz ensembles, the robotics program, and the culinary program. It was an evening for families to celebrate their creative students! Congratulations, Petaluma City Schools!
May 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Technology High School’s Theater Arts Department production of Guys and Dolls. Tech High School is in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Students worked together to produce a musical comedy. Theater arts contributes to a positive and caring community and allows individuals to develop their leadership skills, confidence, empathy, and creative critical thinking. Congratulations, Teacher Emily Walters and Tech HS Theater Arts Students!
April 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Casa Grande High School’s production of “Rock of Ages.” This first ever, student-run musical involved students from three Petaluma campuses working on stage managing, lighting board, sound board, props master, cast, band, and all that goes into a musical’s production. Congratulations, Casa Grande High School!
March 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén. Artistic and General Director, Victor Ferrer’s main goal for Quetzalén dancers is to create a safe space where all students can develop different skills and strengths, but more importantly, a space where they can feel proud of who they are. Congratulations, Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén!
February 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to feature the Sonoma County Honor Band. An ensemble of junior high musicians and one of high school musicians rehearsed with guest conductors Dr. Jerome Fleg and Michael Stone. The bands performed in the Green Music Center on January 28. Musicians from the following schools performed: Analy HS, Casa Grande HS, Petaluma HS, Rancho Cotate HS, Technology HS, Sonoma Valley HS, Montgomery HS, Piner HS, Elsie Allen HS, Santa Rosa HS, Maria Carrillo HS, Windsor HS, and Healdsburg HS. Congratulations!
January 2023
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share, Simply Strings, a program of the Santa Rosa Symphony at Sheppard Elementary School in the Roseland District. 2023 marks the 10th year of the Simply Strings program at Sheppard Elementary, building and shaping the lives of students in the Roseland community. Students are constantly working to improve their technique and musicality through curriculum that includes pre-orchestra, musicianship, visual arts and string ensemble classes ranging from 1st through 8th grades as well as high school mentors. Congratulations!
December 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share a partnership with Amarosa Academy and ArtStart. Amarosa Academy is an alternative education school run by the Sonoma County Office of Education with programming dedicated to restorative education. The school administrator saw an opportunity to re-enliven the school by partnering with interdisciplinary local artists. ArtStart artists embraced the opportunity to empower the students of Amarosa by creating “See You on the Other Side,” a pilot program dedicated to social wellness through integrated arts education. Congratulations!
November 2022
Mark West Charter School’s “Make Music” elective class for 7th-8th graders. Students use maracas, guitars, and body percussion. Directed by music teacher Kara Kaufman, students learn to improvise and compose, collaborate with other students, read and write standard music notation, and prepare works for performance at school assemblies. Congratulations, Mark West Charter School!
October 2022
Steele Lane Elementary School in the Santa Rosa City School District partnered with the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts to offer professional learning, ” Combining Arts Education with Social Emotional Learning Techniques.” Educators from across the county joined in the PD to use the arts as a tool for students’ mental health.
September 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share artwork form Windsor Unified School District’s Migrant Education Arts Integrated Summer School. For a second year, students in grades TK-5 strengthened their academic, social-emotional, and cultural skills through music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and media arts integrated lessons. Over 60 students received this instruction.
2021-2022 School Year
August 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Move Over Mozart’s SPARK Creativity Summer Academy. SPARK Creativity Summer Academy is an enrichment camp that provides engaging and enjoyable activities in: music, art, STEM/critical thinking and drama rotations. Campers range between the grades of TK-8. Our goal is to provide campers with engaging, age appropriate projects that create smiles, AHA moments and uplifting social interactions…while inspiring creativity all throughout! Watch highlights of summer fun by clicking on the image to the left. Congratulations!
July 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Petaluma City Schools, McDowell Elementary School’s Bailie Folklorico. The student dancers performed for about 80 parents at end of the year assemblies, as well as over 200 parents at 6th grade promotion! Maria Serrano from Bailie Folklorico Ireri worked with students from 1st-6th grades. Watch their performance by clicking on the image to the left. Congratulations, McDowell!
June 2022
Student Arts Spotlight shares the good news of the arts making a difference in students’ lives in a monthly feature. The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Alexander Valley Film Society – Student Film Fest Best Overall High School Winner, Sabrina Bomberg. Congratulations, Sabrina!
May 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the visual art program at Geyserville Elementary School for May 2022. Under the instruction of Barbara Adams, 1st and 2nd graders created spring art. The birds are inspired by Ukrainian folk art. Check out their Facebook page to see more examples of visual art in the Geyserville District. Congratulations!
April 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to celebrate Play Taiko! for April 2022. 4th graders at Miwok Valley Elementary School in Petaluma enjoy the newly founded Play Taiko! program. In addition to Taiko drumming, students study songs & dances, learn about Japanese language & culture, sew parts of their performance costumes and build their own practice taiko drums to play at home. Congratulations, Miwok Elementary students, administration, and creator, Tobias Sparks.
March 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share Poetry Out Loud winner, Chelle Servais for March 2022. Chelle is a junior at Santa Rosa High School and will represent Sonoma County at the Poetry Out Loud state finals. Congratulations, Chelle Servais!
February 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the Wright Charter School's Art Electives Program for February 2022. Teacher Suzi Donovan's 7th and 8th grade classes explored the use of line and shading in these Op Art pieces. Congratulations, Wright Charter School!
January 2022
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to celebrate Theatre Arts Students from ArtQuest at Santa Rosa High School for January 2022. ArtQuest Theatre Department believes everyone should see live theatre, so ArtQuest Theatre shows are always pay what you want. Congratulations, ArtQuest!
December 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the West County High School Music Programfor December 2021. The program features concert bands, a jazz band, pep band, marching band, honors band, and choir as well as the only school in the area to offer a full symphonic orchestra. Congratulations, West County High School!
November 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the work of Cheryl Coldiron’s visual art classes at Adele Harrison and Altimira Middle Schools in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District for November 2021. Students studied artist and art theoretician Piet Mondrian, then listened to jazz and each created an 8X10 painting about the rhythm they felt. The paintings were then combined and hung as one large masterpiece. Congratulations, Adele Harrison and Altimira Middle Schools!
October 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance (AEA) is pleased to share “Hopeful Monsters,” an ongoing series of projects by over 400 visual art students in the Healdsburg Unified School District and beyond. For the past two years, art teacher Linus Lancaster's students have creatied soft sculptures that anthropomorphize character traits, personal issues, or external stressors. Congratulations, Healdsburg Unified School District!
July-August 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share iAspire Arts Integration for August 2021. The Summit was held this summer, which involved lead teachers mentoring classroom teachers new to the program, as well as migrant education students in the work. These artistic examples are from a social emotional connection-self/cultural pride lesson. Congratulations, iAspire Educators and Students!
2020-2021 School Year
June 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the Alexander Valley Film Society (AVFS) Student Film Competition Winners for June 2021. The competition winners were honored during a drive-in movie screening event. Congratulations, AVFS Student Filmmakers!
May 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the work of Analy High School Theater Arts Students and their teacher, Joseph Myers, for May 2021. Despite many challenges presented during the pandemic, students were featured in a virtual production of Clue! Congratulations, Analy High School!
April 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the accomplishments of art teacher, Josey Richter, and her students from Casa Grande High School. The students created the mural pieces at home during distance learning, then assembled the 30 foot long mural. Congratulations, Casa Grande High School!
March 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the accomplishment of Ella Wen, Sonoma County's Poetry Out Loud Winner for March 2021. Ella is a 9th grader at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, and represented Sonoma County in the statewide Poetry Out Loud competition in mid-March. Congratulations, Ella Wen!
February 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the work of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts’ Cantares de Mi Tierra (Mariachi Ensemble), as the February 2021 Arts Education Alliance Student Arts Spotlight. Congratulations, Cantares de Mi Tierra!
January 2021
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the work of El Molino Dance Company, as this month’s Arts Education Alliance Student Arts Spotlight. The video was choreographed by Kali Holdren. Dance film has been a new adventure during these challenging times, invoking creativity and a socially distant outlet. Congratulations, El Molino High School!
December 2020 (Inaugural Spotlight)
The Sonoma County Arts Education Alliance is pleased to share the 1st Student Arts Spotlight and features students musicians from Rincon Valley Middle School in their fall concert. Congratulations, Rincon Valley Middle School!