January 25, 2011

Annual Art Show Showcases the Talent of DCPS Students 

Contact: Elaine Quesinberry | (202) 401-1576 | Contact Email

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WHAT: Ribbon cutting ceremony for D.C. Public Schools art exhibit opening

WHO: Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary, Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education;
Peggy O’Brien, chief of Family and Public Engagement D.C. Public Schools;
Patricia Laney, art teacher, Hugh Browne Education Campus

WHEN: TOMORROW, Jan. 26, 2011 at 11 a.m. EST

WHERE: U.S. Department of Education
Barnard Auditorium
400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C.

WHY: U.S. Department of Education Assistant Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton will open an exhibit of D.C. Public Schools student art works on Jan. 26 at 11 a.m. with remarks and a ribbon cutting ceremony in the Department’s Barnard Auditorium. The exhibit will display artworks created by K–6th-grade students from 10 D.C. public schools.

The program will open with a musical welcome from Smothers Elementary School Cougar Choir and Guitar Ensemble. Speakers will include D. C. Public Schools Chief of Family and Public Engagement Peggy O’Brien and Hugh Browne Education Campus art teacher Patricia Laney. Students from Powell Elementary School and Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View will showcase dance and choral Spanish poetry. Duke Ellington School of the Arts will share its students’ pre-professional talents in a work by William Grant Still and in a musical selection from Dreamgirls.

“The arts are a core academic subject and part of a complete education for all students,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “Arts education is essential to stimulating the creativity and innovation that will prove critical to young Americans competing in a global economy.”

The Department’s Student Art Exhibit Program, now in its seventh year, features visual art created by students in U.S. and international schools, and provides students and teachers an opportunity to display creative work from the classroom and promote art as a tool for education and learning for all.

To attend the opening, visit the exhibit and receive more information about the Department’s Student Art Exhibit Program, contact Jackye Zimmermann at (202) 401-0762.