The Evesham Township Municipal building is used to housing council meetings and court cases, but on May 12, the building took on the additional responsibilities of a full-blown art gallery when the Evesham Township School District held the opening night for its 21st annual “Eyes on Art” show.
From May 12–21, the works of hundreds of students from the district’s elementary and middle schools will be on display for students, families and members of the community to enjoy.
ETSD Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. said the annual show always provides an important opportunity for the district to display the talents of its students to the community as a whole.
“People can come in over the next two weeks and see what the kids have to offer,” Scavelli said. “Kids are real proud of it, and we’re proud to display it for them.”
In addition to having hundreds of pieces of work displayed during the two weeks of the art show, 36 pieces, four from each school, will be framed courtesy of the Evesham Education Foundation to be displayed at the township municipal building and school district administrative building until next year’s show.
“We love it. We love looking at it, and sometimes, we’re able to have enough to put it in a few of the offices as well,” Scavelli said. “I know in the past I’ve had different pieces in my office, so we really enjoy looking at them.”
One such student who had their artwork displayed throughout the year and now had it returned was Van Zandt Elementary’s third grader Maggie Conchado. Maggie said she thought it was “really cool” to have people appreciate her art throughout the year, and she hopes to become an art teacher herself as an adult.
“I really like art and I want to be an art teacher when I grow up,” Maggie said. “I like drawing, and I think my mom is a really good artist and it’s cool. I like sketch drawing. I have a notebook that I just sketch in.”
Maggie’s art teacher, Stacey Santora, who was also at the event, said the annual gala is something important to students that they look forward to all year.
“It’s just one of those things that’s so memorable to them, and we’re just so glad to be able to give this to them,” Santora said. “There are just so many districts that don’t have anything like this.”
District Director of Curriculum Danielle Magulick echoed Santora’s and Scavelli’s sentiments and said the district was happy to be able to still have such visual and performing arts programs, as where many districts may have downsized or cut them altogether due to lack of funding.
“We have so many talented kids who might be talented in math, or might be talented in art, and it’s really important to us in the district that we’re looking at the whole child and looking at everybody’s strength and finding different ways to highlight it,” Magulick said.
One official at the event looking at such highlights and greeting students was Mayor Randy Brown, who said one of the best decisions made was when the show was moved to the municipal building for the last three years, as opposed to the school district administrative building where it was held prior.
“It’s transformed the township building into an art gallery, and I’d gladly cancel court and board meetings and whatever else for three weeks so that their art can be displayed in comfortable, air conditioned areas,” Brown said.
