Multi-Arts Festival fills EHS with music, art and runway fashion
EPHRATA — Ephrata High School's Multi-Arts Festival returned for another spring show May 18-21, with five nights of student music, art and original fashion design to EHS.
The week-long event honored the late Laurie Parker, a longtime EHS art teacher who started the festival tradition. Parker was recognized for her many years of service to the school and community.
The festival opened Monday with Ephrata Middle School and EHS choral singers directed by Tim O'Donnell. Gus O'Donnell accompanied and Aaron Loeffelbein handled sound.
The audience enjoyed performances by the middle school choir and the high school's Treble Clef, Concert, Bass Clef, Harmonia, and Chamber choirs. The Bass Clef ensemble featured solos from Mason Bonnington and Yael Hurtado Armijos on "O Sifuni Mungu." All groups combined for a finale of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna."
On Tuesday, musicians from the high school, middle school, and Parkway Intermediate took the stage for performances led by director Jacob Pearce.
Highlights included Parkway's rendition of a Michael Sweeney arrangement for "We Will Rock You;" the 7th Grade Band's "Mission: Impossible Theme" and "Seven Nation Army;" and the 8th Grade Band's run through "Billie Jean" and "How to Train Your Dragon." The high school Symphonic Band performed "The Phantom of the Opera" arranged by Johnnie Vinson, featuring flute solos from Savannah Alvarez and Sophia Warbiany. The 8th Grade and Symphonic bands then combined for "Cupid Shuffle" to close the evening.
Community members filled the high school gymnasium Wednesday for the annual Art Show Gallery Walk. Student work lined the walls from the classes of EHS art teacher Tobin Springs and EMS art teacher Brian Forster, EMS woodshop teacher Randy Sieg and EHS woodshop teacher Dale Hagy, welding instructor Kent Devine, floral design teacher Meagan Haight, and digital media teachers Katie McKeehan, Jeremy Vasquez and Scott Sandberg. Live guitar music played throughout the evening as visitors admired the displays.
The week wrapped Thursday with "Serving Up Fashion," featuring runway presentations of three collections by students in Carly Morris' Fabric Arts class. The show's theme was complemented with imaginative "food" props created from paper mache, clay, and spray foam by students in Andrea Anderson's Interior Design class.
The Hooded Sweatshirts collection featured custom fleece hoodies constructed from scratch. A womenswear collection gave students free rein to design a piece that "spoke" to them.
Students closed the show with Upcycled Streetwear crafted entirely from discarded clothing. The collection grew out of a class unit on fashion ethics — after learning about the industry's environmental toll, students then disassembled unwanted garments and remade them into something new.
Morris explained it is her favorite project of the year. Most of this year's looks came from old denim, with discarded knitwear and classroom scraps filling in the rest.
EHS junior Raymond Hyce won the "Follow-Through" award for his upcycled denim shorts. Hyce pitched the design in the fall, collected pairs of ripped denim over several months and stuck with it.
Morris said many students start with grand plans, then scale back when they see the work involved. "Ray met the challenge head on and did not deviate," she said. He put in extra hours after school, over lunch and during Tiger Mondays, perfecting the "jorts" that became an audience favorite.
Sophomore Kiley Baddley won the "Consistent Aesthetic" award. The first Fabric Arts assignment is a personal moodboard, and Baddley's was "Y2K" fashion. Every piece she made this year carried that themed look. "Kiley didn't just want to make clothes, she wanted to make clothes she would actually wear," Morris said. Baddley also took advantage of every "Open Sew" opportunity on Tiger Mondays to produce more clothing than any other student.
