by Chase Spencer

On March 1, 39 talented students from PCM attended the Heart Of Iowa Conference Fine Arts Festival. This event included an honor band, an honor choir and an art show. The conference hosted eight schools from around central Iowa at Nevada High School.

The band consisted of 103 students and the choir contained 95 students. Both the band and choir rehearsed for six hours before performing for friends and family at the evening concert. The festival brought in special conductors for each the band and choir, both of which are Iowa natives. The guest band director was Dr. Karen Fannin. She is the current director of bands, assistant director and associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The choir guest director was Jayson Ryner, the director of choral activities at North Iowa Area Community College. Both guests have a history of directing honor bands and choirs across Iowa.

Three of the 15 art students who sent in work won awards for their creations. Senior Kinsey Phipps won a Teacher’s Award for her watercolor painting about gender roles. Junior Delaney Clark received the Judge’s Award for a pencil portrait she did. Senior Emily Klein also received the Teacher’s Award for her abstract pencil drawing.

Art teacher Sara Kirk commented on her students work, “Overall, I was really proud of the work the students entered into the show. We had a really nice of mix of technically strong pieces and conceptual work addressing social issues within society.”

The students who participated will go back and apply what they learned to the fine art programs at PCM.