Knightly News

Whether Lower School students are capturing facial proportions through charcoal drawings, Middle School students are learning new dance steps or Upper School students are memorizing lines for their first play, art is abundant at Episcopal. It is a key component of the school’s whole child educational philosophy and one that is immensely popular, with 80% of students participating in some form of art. Realizing the importance of an arts education, a group of parents has teamed up to support the program.

Introducing the Episcopal Arts Krewe!

Visual and Performing Arts Director Paige Gagliano says with so many arts offerings she often hears the same question from parents, “What can I do to help?” Parents have long supported Episcopal arts, but the new Arts Krewe is a coordinated, intentional approach. “They’ve organized a way to utilize the passion parents always had for supporting their kids in the arts,” says Gagliano. “They’ve created something I couldn’t imagine.”

With Louisiana flair, the Episcopal Arts Krewe is a grassroots effort led by parents who are passionate about supporting their child’s artistic journey. Founding Krewe member Deborah Sternberg says the group has an important goal. “The Arts Krewe’s mission is to elevate arts engagement, reputation, and support throughout the Episcopal community and the Baton Rouge area. This includes support for all Episcopal art disciplines: band, choir, dance, theater, and visual arts.”

Krewe support comes in a variety of forms, including financial and volunteer efforts. You can expect to see Krewe members assisting backstage or staffing the VPAC concession stand at the next big performance. In addition, members will provide student snacks and coordinate events and fundraisers. The response to the newly formed group has been tremendous. “While every parent with students engaged in Episcopal art programs is automatically a member of the Arts Krewe, over 100 parents have signed up to volunteer and support the arts in our first two weeks alone,” says Sternberg.

Gagliano is ecstatic to have the group up and running because of the support and commitment parents are showing to students. “They understand the difference art makes in a child’s life and in the life of the school,” she says. Sternberg says such a group will certainly have an impact on students. “Students will benefit from increased opportunities and awareness of the large portfolio of art programs at Episcopal,” she says. “With greater family engagement, students and the community enjoy greater overall impact.”

Anyone interested in making an impact in the Episcopal arts program is invited to volunteer or learn more about the Arts Krewe by visiting the group’s webpage at https://www.episcopalbr.org/parent-support/arts-krewe.  In addition, interested parents can speak with the founding members of the Krewe, including Nicole Brien, Wendy Dolan, Katie Ebey, Jill Friloux, Nikki Godfrey, Rachel Guidry, Victoria Guarisco, Heather Kirkpatrick, Michael Roth, Catherine Saurage, Deborah Sternberg, and Kate Waters. 

The Episcopal Performing Arts Academy

Most family schedules are maxed out with school, work, practice and more, and it can be hard to keep up with everything students want to do. The new Episcopal Performing Arts Academy provides families a more manageable option for their aspiring musicians.

Performing Arts Academy instructors provide once a week, private, 30-minute lessons before, during or after school on the Episcopal campus. Students can select from piano, voice, ukulele, guitar, mandolin, banjo, harp, violin, viola and cello. New Performing Arts Academy Director Tori Taylor works with classroom teachers and parents to determine the best time for each student’s lesson so that academic instruction time is not missed. Performing and Visual Arts Department Director Paige Gagliano says having a designated program director has huge implications for the program. “Having Tori on board means higher quality instruction for students, consistent communication with parents and more opportunities to participate,” she says. The program has already expanded with Taylor adding additional instructors. “All of our teachers come to us with many years of teaching and accomplishments in the world of arts,” she says. In addition, more than 100 students are already participating.

To learn more about the Performing Arts Academy, click here.

The 2021-2022 Arts Calendar

It’s an exciting time to be an Episcopal arts student. The calendar is filled with opportunities to get involved, discover a hidden talent or fine-tune an established skill. Gagliano says there are unseen benefits to student participation. “Art gives the kids more confidence to take higher level courses,” she says. “It sparks interest in those higher courses and improves those courses because of the knowledge already gained.” She points out that that confidence is not only in art but also in other disciplines and academic subjects. Gagliano sees the role of art and the art instructor as larger than any one class or one performance. “We’re not teaching art,” she says. “We’re teaching life skills. I help kids understand that they can be what they can’t imagine.”

The 2021-2022 arts season is sure to inspire students and audiences alike. For a full list of upcoming events, check out the calendar here.

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2024-2025 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.