As brilliant minds gathered in UHS to show off their hard work on Thursday, February 28th, students and families from all over came to see these pieces and to learn more information about the International Baccalaureate program. The first things that we saw when we entered through the front doors of Urbana was the beautiful artwork hung around the walls of the hallways. Each artist had multiple pieces hung up in their own designated areas, and each piece had a description about why they made it and decided to use these pieces in the showcase. A few pieces caught the eyes of many…

“Enough is Enough,” made by Elle Newman, grade 11, showed the effects of gun violence in schools. Her intention in making this was to express her feelings on this gun violence and how it needs to end. “I felt that students have become a target,” says Newman in her description. The artwork contained a young girl, with her back facing the audience of people seeing this drawing, with a target on her backpack, which further proves Newman’s point in this piece.

“Urbanization” was made by Emmie Voss, grade 11, to represent the changes in our environment and how we have chosen to build over the nature around us. “This piece shows the gradual change from forest to farm, farm to suburban to metropolitan,” claims Voss. The colors chosen in this piece definitely caught the eyes of many as people stopped and stared in awe. The creation can really catch your eye with the bright colors and the meaning behind them.

“Spires and Skies: Morning,” made by Shannon Sinnicki, grade 11, was a piece made very creatively. She made a Linocut Print, which is melted linoleum that creates a chiseled surface to show a certain design. The linoleum sheet is then inked with a roller and pressed onto the painted sunrise paper to show the final result.

In addition to art pieces, there were also musical performances that showcased student talent in the UHS IB program.

Racheal Martin, singing “Der Blumenstrauss” by Felix Mendelssohn, left everyone silent with her musical ability to project her voice with such tranquility until she finished, when everyone was bound to clap and smile as she bowed. The song was sung in German and, like she had said before she started, she has only been studying the German language for a couple of months. She nailed with her vocals as well as singing the correct words and pronunciation.

Leah Esemuede, dancing to “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande, has never danced in front of her peers before. People clapped along in support as she transitioned from her choreographed hip hop routine to a contemporary freestyle routine to “Human” by Sevdaliza. Her freestyle caused everyone to do nothing but sit and stare at the new dance moves she chose to preform. Her performance was a jaw dropper as she flung herself in angelic ways around the floor, creating something that has never been seen before.

First year pianist in the IB program Daniel Bowers played two completely different songs that night, which included “Cheap Thrills” by Sia and “Turkish March” by Mozart. These pieces were played very professionally and so well, as he moved fast along the keys and hit all the notes perfectly.

The talent shown by these dedicated students impressed all who witnessed the performances, art work, and projects that they worked so hard on.