Young creatives excel as Arts programs mature Best in Show

The year 2004 stands out for the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences. It became a member institution of the University of Arkansas System in January of that year. There was an addition to the school’s mission and name as well — “the Arts.”

Through those evolutions, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts was born. As the institution celebrates the 30year anniversary of its opening in 1993, it’s also important to reflect on the growth of “the Arts” in those 20 years, especially over the past decade as ASMSA has made specific investments to grow its arts, music and humanities programs.

ASMSA added its first full-time visual arts instructor in 2014 and a second in 2018 allowing students to take a variety of visual arts classes such as 2-D and 3-D Art and Design, Ceramics, Modern Design and Craft (which includes woodworking), and Introduction to Fused Glass. The Visual Arts and Design Program of Distinction (P.O.D.), an immersive, college-level arts curriculum that allows students to focus on courses that develop their artistic talents and creativity, was formalized in 2022. Students enrolled in the courses have consistently earned recognition in many state, regional and national competitions such as the Congressional Art Competition, Historic Cane Hill Arkansas High School Art Exhibition, Thea Foundation Scholarship Competition, Arts Across Arkansas and Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

In 2018, the first full-time music instructor joined ASMSA’s faculty. A third full-time music educator will join the faculty this fall. Students may participate in the Wind Ensemble and String Ensembles as well as an SSA/Treble Choir. Nearly a quarter of students participate in some facet of the music experience. All three groups earned state recognition near the end of the spring semester, including the Wind Ensemble and choir earning top honors in state competitions in their classifications, the first time any ASMSA music ensemble received such recognition. Individual student musicians were selected for All-Region and All-State band ensembles and honor bands as well as in competitions such as Arts Across Arkansas.

A full-time instructor whose specialty is in film and graphic design joined the faculty this past school year. Expanded opportunities in humanities, including a Creative Writing Capstone and the opportunity to participate in regional, state and national competitions such as the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Poetry Out Loud and National History Day, have been developed as well. Film and creative writing students earned recognition in the Arts Across Arkansas state competition. One student’s documentary film was chosen for two film festivals this past year. Foreign language students in Spanish, French and Japanese won awards in the Arkansas Foreign Language Teacher Association contest this spring, and more than 50 students have earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy which recognizes their fluency in at least one other language than English, in the past two years.

Many of these students have received recognition across different artistic disciplines. It is that versatility that often allows ASMSA students to stand out, said Dr. Thomas Dempster, who serves as associate dean for arts and humanities, director of bands and as a music instructor.

“Here, we have students who are All-Region-level players who are strong visual artists, strong jazz performers who are talented writers and poets, and students who engage with theater as well as music,” he said. “What’s more is that students who can work in various disciplines or be exposed to various ideas across disciplines can see how those paths or pursuits may overlap or converge.”

As an example, Dempster spoke about the convergence of music and visual arts for Yared Belete (’24), who had a visual arts piece selected for the Historic Cane Hill Arkansas High School Art Exhibition and plans to major in architecture. He also was a horn player in the Wind Ensemble.

Belete studied the graphically-notated scores of pieces by Cornelius Cardew, Wadada Leo Smith and Mark Applebaum. The notations fall outside of standard Western notation because of the heavy influence of visual art concepts and materials on them, Dempster said. What he calls graphic scores such as these contain elements and broad ideas such as gesture, shape, direction, contour and texture that also play with what notation is supposed to convey.

“Something in (Belete) sparked and transformed his artwork, and in a sense made him a keener musician as well,” when they looked through the pieces, he said. “So, Yared created a series of works, some rather large form, that explore these ideas, overlaying the boundaries of music and visual art.”

At the end of the year, a group of student musicians and faculty members performed one of Belete’s works that included this kind of graphic notation.

For a school whose initial emphasis was on providing Arkansas students with extraordinary opportunities in STEM subjects, some people still refer to ASMSA as “the math and science school,” even two decades later. That is despite the humanities offering meaningful experiences throughout the school’s history. Ask alumni about their experiences in American Studies or Folk Music and Acoustics or the humanities instructors who influenced them during their time at ASMSA and a flood of memories will be released.

What is often missed in those instances, however, is the growth in not only the program but in the creative levels of students and what they are seeking in arts, music and humanities programs. They aren’t always students dedicated strictly to the arts.

“Breaking down the stereotypes of what an artist looks like opens an invitation for all students to take art courses,” said Brad Wreyford, an Instructor of Excellence in art. “Some of my best students have been STEM-centric in their academic pursuits. They often do incredible work for me. My goal is to take anyone who takes my classes and convince them that they are already artists and worthy of enjoying their creative decision making.”

Sometimes those opportunities result in a student with STEM interests when they first enroll at ASMSA revealing a passion they may not have recognized previously. Alex Back (’24) came to ASMSA with the idea of eventually becoming a pre-med student. The quality of the music program was not his top priority. His previous band director even discouraged him from applying to ASMSA, claiming it had an “underdeveloped” band program, Back said.

“He could not have been more wrong. I would not be the musician I am today without Dr. Dempster and Dr. (Nathan) Groot. ASMSA has allowed me to pursue a life in music that would have been unobtainable had I not been here. ASMSA is a music-fostering environment,” Back said.

While at ASMSA, Back earned All-Region Band honors in 2023 and 2024, All-Region Orchestra recognition in 2023, All-State Band selection in 2024, was a member of the 2023 University of Central Arkansas High School Honors Ensemble and won first place for his composition “Wind Chimes,” a movement of a larger piece called “Year One,” in the 2024 Arts Across Arkansas competition. He was a member of both this year’s Wind Ensemble and choir that earned top ranks in their respective state competitions.

Back also earned a full-ride scholarship to the prestigious Peabody Institute music conservatory at Johns Hopkins University to study music composition.

“I cannot speak for everyone, but the majority of music-affiliated students here at ASMSA will agree with me when I say that I would not be the musician I am without this school. If I had stayed at my sending school, I would have either never figured out or found out too late that I wanted to pursue music,” Back said.

Gwen Oliver (’24) came to ASMSA knowing that she wanted to be in the Visual Arts and Design P.O.D. Before beginning the program, she thought of herself an artist who primarily worked in paint and pencil because that was all she had been taught.

“Before coming here, I knew I loved making artwork, but I didn’t know if I loved being an artist. This program has really been eye-opening for me,” Oliver said.

While at ASMSA, Oliver earned a Regional Silver Key in visual arts in 2023, had selections featured in the Arkansas High School Art Exhibition sponsored by Historic Cane Hill, won first place in the 2024 Arts Across Arkansas Visual Arts category, and was selected for the Region 2 All-Region band as First Chair for horn in F in 2023.

Along the way, she discovered a new artistic passion — creating design-based art, sculptures, pottery and woodworking pieces. She was given the opportunity to discover her own art style under the guidance of two instructors who were also practicing artists — Wreyford and Lola Warren, an art instructor whose specialty area is ceramics — who helped “us find the kind of art we enjoy and love to create.”

“It’s been really nice to have two practicing artists as teachers these past two years. Obviously, they mentor me with their work, but I think some of the most valuable things I’ve gained are from conversations we’ve had about being a professional artist in today’s world. I’ve had multiple conversations with both of them about steps to take during and after college to get my foot in the door of the art world and begin to make a name for myself,” Oliver said.

In the Creative Writing Capstone, students learn the art of writing from two instructors who have a Master of Fine Arts degree, the standard terminal degree for creative writers. James Katowich and Brian Isbell, both Instructors of Excellence in humanities, work together with the young writers. Katowich said it is likely rare to find a school with a creative writing class taught by one published writer with an MFA, much less two.

Katowich said beginning writers often need encouragement to even start putting words on the page. Through his own experiences as a writing student, he believes it is important to teach the whole writing process, including research, brainstorming, organizing and prewriting.

Katowich said devoting class time to the writing process helps students become more confident. During a 90-minute class, students can participate in a lesson, reading or another exercise focused on a key skill and then write during the remainder of the class. Katowich leads by example during that time.

“Early on in the semester, I write alongside the students, and for some reason having me there typing away at a rough draft of my own makes them more comfortable launching into their own new work,” he said.

Another valuable tool is the workshop. Students complete and submit rough drafts of poems, essays or stories which are compiled into a single document and distributed back to the class. Students would discuss the pieces on the document, focusing on what is working well and what is not.

“For students, the experience is sometimes scary, sometimes exhilarating, but always intense, and as a result, one central fact gets ‘burned’ into young writers’ minds: my work is going to be read by other people. After a single semester of workshops, the transformation is profound: the students are now writing with the reader in mind, and it is this mental shift that is absolutely required for good writing,” Katowich said.

Isbell added another important step is that they must stop reading pieces as readers but as writers instead. It is not an easy task and involves rethinking years of training that focus mainly on comprehension.

“Learning to read as a writer requires putting those skills in abeyance, not forgetting them, but pushing through the passive and/or critical reader to a writer who reads for skill, technique, craft, art. Once they read that way, they become much more aware of their own writing and that of their peers during workshops,” Isbell said.

Outside recognition is also important for creative students, Katowich said. Young writers often crave validation, he added, and one way to gain that is through various competitions. This year, eight students received regional Scholastic Key recognition in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition for their creative writing, visual art and digital art creations. Two students won awards in last year’s competition, including one student who a National Silver Key for a poem.

Maddox Jessup (’25) earned a regional Scholastic Gold Key in this year’s competition for her poem “For Moon” as well as Honorable Mention recognition for a second poem, “Seasons of Love.” She participated in the Creative Writing Capstone, which included writing poetry. The course reinforced her passion for writing while introducing her to new styles, she said.

“My time in the Humanities Department has been an eye opener. I knew that I loved to write and learn languages, but with ASMSA, that love has only been driven home more. The educators and curriculum are excellent at guiding you through the process with ease. I have learned so much this year,” Jessup said.

Regardless of the contest or the medium, competitions provide students an opportunity to gain that validation by putting their works, and in a way themselves, out there for an audience to see.

“Creating anything new requires bravery and fortitude; it requires a reasonable hope that the effort and the anxiety involved will result in something good,” Katowich said. “For many students, a nice grade or compliment can be discounted, but winning a contest matters because students know for certain their work was judged impartially and on merit alone. It is a victory their nagging self-doubts find harder to explain away.”

Avery Binuya (’24) said having the opportunity to compete as a ceramic artist was important to her. Binuya won third place in the Visual Arts category and an $8,000 scholarship for her ceramic arts piece titled “Reflections” in the Thea Foundation Scholarship Competition. The piece is two identically intricate wheel-thrown teapots, but one is shattered. It was also selected for the Historic Cane Hill Arkansas High School Art Exhibition and was included in the Celebrating Art book.

“When I first began entering my ceramic pieces in competitions, I had very little faith that I would gain the same recognition as traditional art,” Binuya said. “In retrospect, the lack of representation of functional ceramics simply meant I had the opportunity to showcase the beauty of ceramics. Through ASMSA’s support and push for competitions, I went from a discouraged ceramicist surrounded by (traditional artists) to a recognized artist in a position to inspire other budding ceramicists.”

Opportunities to compete in contests may be lucrative in terms of scholarships and cash prizes, but they also can help young artists build confidence in a world where the competition can be tough.

“They learn to fail and succeed, and both are important to their growth,” Warren said. “They learn to get back up and keep going if they don’t get into a competition or don’t win. Winning can be important, but so can learning to get back up and keep moving forward. They learn to be mature and composed young artists whether they win or lose.”

Warren said the maturity and sophistication of students’ work increases considerably over their time at ASMSA. When they graduate, they have a portfolio of work they can be proud to show off. She said many of the seniors who graduated this year and planned to pursue art in college had scholarships.

The same was true for students in other disciplines as well. Dempster said at least five music students from this year’s graduating class earned full-ride or other generous scholarships to colleges in Arkansas and across the country to study music. It was the same last year, and there are many students who are studying other subjects but benefit from music scholarships by performing in college music groups to help pay for their education.

The growing successes in various competitions and students choosing to follow creative passions as avenues for study and career paths reveals the upward direction of ASMSA’s overall arts and humanities program.

“We’re a strong school for competitive successes, and those successes are built on strong individual mentorship, built on faculty pushing students to go far beyond what they know, to experiment, to be imaginative and to follow their strengths as far as they can while developing and enriching their skills to take them even further,” Dempster said.