AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER
It was 1984! Not George Orwell’s “Big Brother is watching you” 1984, but the year the original Apple MacIntosh personal computer went on sale, break dancing hit the streets, and the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC) first showcased Arts in Education programs in Caddo Parish Public Schools with ArtBreak. Thirty-seven Years later, ArtBreak is still the largest student art festival in the south, filling 95,000 square feet of the Shreveport Convention Center with visual, literary, performing, culinary, fashion, lighting design, and film Art; awarding almost $20,000 in savings bonds and cash prizes to hundreds of students; and welcoming more than 50,000 students, parents, teachers, and festival goers to this free, hands-on family festival.
How is it possible that year after year ArtBreak adds even more new S.T.E.A.M. activities, new community partnerships, new entertainers, and new competitions? Only through generous grantors and community sponsors including Griggs Enterprise McDonald’s, The Alta and John Franks Foundation, Citizens National Bank, The Community Foundation, Community Network, Inc., Verizon, Union Pacific, and The Leonard W. and Betty Phillips Foundation, to name a few! These patrons believe strongly in the mission of ArtBreak to showcase the arts programs and artistic achievements of students in Caddo Parish and other regional schools, and they make this free weeklong celebration and weekend festival continue to happen, year after year.
All new this year is a “Pete the Cat: Rockin’ in My School Shoes” play with cast members from the Shreve Memorial Library and a Book Walk in the style of a cake walk; the opportunity to help professional artist James Marks sculpt the life-size metal figure, Oscar Joseph, with colorful wire and pipe cleaners that will eventually be showcased at SRAC’s ArtStation; Poetry Out Loud, a dynamic recitation competition for high school students, presented in partnership with the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation; and new opportunities to make art with community partners including the
American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES), the Noel Community Art Center, the Red River Revel Arts Festival, the Renzi Center, Robinson Film Center, Sanctuary Glass Studio, and SciPort Discovery Center.
Some of the favorites are also back in 2023 including more than 50 hands-on STEAM learning activities; more than 100 school and community performances; more than 4,000 student works of visual and literary art; the popular KTAL- 6 ArtBreak’s Got Talent show; popular entertainer, Uncle Devin, known as “The Children’s Drumcussionist;” Shreve Memorial Library’s 2nd Grade Reading Adventure; student master classes with Film Prize Jr. coming on board for the first time ever; and the Very Special Arts Festival with the return of Straight Up Abilities.
ArtBreak week starts Monday, April 17 with Caddo Parish 2nd and 3rd graders gathering a full head of S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) creating popular make-and-take activities using the Archimedes Principle, illustrating symmetry and asymmetry, and making percussion instruments to play along with Uncle Devin for five funpacked days.
The Family Fun weekend begins Friday, April 21, when the Shreveport Convention Center will be bustling with student singers, dancers, musicians, performers; young film producers; fashionistas; emerging chefs; light designers; thousands of high school, middle school and elementary school visual artworks, poems, short stories, Haiku and other literary artworks; hundreds of banners showing the support of major sponsors; and several thousand proud parents celebrating the creative achievements of Caddo Parish students of all ages.
It all started in 1984—37 years ago-- and ArtBreak 37 just keeps getting better. Bring the whole family to the Shreveport Convention Center Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 21, 22, and 23, 2023. It’s Free and Open to the public, with free parking.
