August 18, 2024

Good evening Visual Arts Class of 2025 parents, guardians and students!

Welcome to week 2! We hope you're settling in, and getting to know teachers, classmates and the campus.

This newsletter will have a lot of information, resources, dates and event info. But don't worry, it's all posted on the guild website and will be redistributed on our social media channels at the appropriate time. Make sure you are following us on Facebook and Instagram @btwvisualarts, and bookmark the Visual Arts Guild website. Join the Visual Arts Guild Remind by texting @btwvaguild to 81010.

The Visual Arts Guild hosts free, public receptions for each gallery show. Volunteers will be needed to help set up, serve refreshments, and clean up. We also appreciate donations! Events are typically 5-7 p.m. Look for volunteer sign ups soon.

And if you are interested in sponsoring a reception, let us know. Reception sponsors will be promoted at the reception, on our website and social media, and in our email newsletter.

Dates for 2024-25 are:

Thursday, September 12: Studio Selections features works of 10th-12th grade students selected by the conservatory faculty. 

Thursday, October 17: New Works features works of 9th-11th grade students. 

Thursday, November 21: Senior Showcase coincides with College Showcase and features senior students.

December 12: National Art Honor Society (NAHS) features works by our newest NAHS inductees. Applications for NAHS are available in late September. Find out more about the NAHS program.

January-April 2025: Senior Shows

• Senior Show #1: The opening reception is Thursday, January 23 from 5-7 p.m. 
• Senior Show #2: The opening reception is Thursday, February 20 from 5-7 p.m. 
• Senior Show #3: The opening reception is Thursday, March 27 from 5-7 p.m. 
• Senior Show #4: The opening reception is Thursday, April 24 from 5-7 p.m.

May 2025: Young American Talent is a juried Visual Art Competition for North Texas high school students hosted by the Visual Arts Guild. The awards reception is Thursday, May 8 from 6-8 p.m. 

Students should continually check the call board on the first floor next to Mr. Clark's room for opportunities. We also post them on our online call board. But here are some opportunities this semester for your student to consider:

National Art Honor Society (September/October): The NAHS program recognizes students who have shown an outstanding ability and interest in art. The program supports members in their efforts to attain the highest standards in art scholarship, character, and service and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community.

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors may apply. Limited spots are available, and members are selected by the school’s art faculty. The application will be available toward the end of September. Students must complete an application and upload a copy of cycle 1 grades to be considered. 

Hispanic Heritage Festival (October): The Hispanic Heritage Festival is one of four all-school productions. It features student-led performances and artistry from all conservatories and coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month. 

YoungArts (October): YoungArts is a prestigious national arts competition for visual, literary and performing artists in 10th-12th grades (or 15 to 18 years old). Award winners with distinction attend National YoungArts Week to collaborate with peers and develop their crafts with internationally recognized leaders in their fields. Award winners with distinction in their senior year are eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Award winners at all levels receive mentorship and financial awards, and access to a lifetime of creative, professional development and funding opportunities. Seniors are required to complete a YoungArts application to apply for a BTW senior show in the spring. The deadline to apply for YoungArts is Thursday, October 17 at 8 p.m. ET.

PTA Reflections (November): Reflections is a National PTA program that accepts submissions in dance, film, literature, music, photography and visual arts. This year's theme is Accepting Imperfection. The application will be available on the BTW PTSA website soon and the deadline to apply is late November (TBA).

Winter Arts Market (December): The Visual Arts Market is a popular annual event where Visual Arts students set up booths and sell their art and wares. Look for the application and additional details later in the fall semester.

Young American Talent (December): YAT is a juried art competition for North Texas students hosted by the Visual Arts Guild. Submissions are typically accepted from December-March. All students are encouraged to participate.

We welcome all volunteers. No role is too small! And because these are annual events, we have volunteers who have experience and plans of work to help anyone jump right in.

Here is a broad overview of volunteer needs we have each year:

Gallery receptions (monthly): We host monthly receptions and appreciate volunteers to help set up, serve, greet guests, and clean up. Shifts are 90 minutes. You can volunteer once or every month. Students can volunteer too!

North Texas Giving Day (September): This is a great opportunity for us to reach beyond our school and guild members to raise funds for our students and faculty. If you have experience fundraising (or specifically with North Texas Giving Day!), we welcome your help!

Portfolio Day (September): At this event September 30, we will need a small committee to help us host college representatives visiting campus to talk with our students and review portfolios. We provide breakfast and lunch to our guests and faculty.

College Showcase (October-November): Showcase is an expansive two-day event November 21-22. We would love to add volunteers to this committee to help provide hospitality to our seniors, faculty and guests. 

Arts Market (November-December): At this annual event in December, volunteers can help the faculty and students prepare for the market and man our hospitality and merchandise table at the event.

Auditions (January-February): Auditions are typically two Saturdays in January and/or February. We provide a hospitality table with snacks for our auditioning students, and we provide breakfast and lunch to our faculty, guests judges, and student volunteers.

5x7 Art Sale (December-January): In January 2024 we hosted our inaugural 5x7 Art Sale to raise funds for the Visual Arts Conservatory. It was an amazing success, and we'd love to welcome volunteers to the event committee to help us plan and host the 2025 event.

I Am Booker T Day (March-April): This is often our first chance to meet incoming families and we appreciate all volunteers who can help us sell memberships and merch, answer questions, and provide general hospitality to our newest members.

Senior Scholarships (April-May): The guild awards five, $1500 scholarships to eligible students at the senior dinner each year. Volunteers are needed to help promote the opportunity to students, secure judges, organize applications and recognize the recipients at the dinner. Because scholarships are for senior students, senior parents are not eligible to serve on this committee.

Senior Dinner (April-May): Each conservatory hosts a senior dinner in May. Volunteers on this committee plan the event and host the dinner. Again, we encourage senior parents to NOT volunteer on this committee so they can enjoy the dinner with their student as a parent and not a volunteer. 

We'll post more information as it's available. Bookmark the volunteer page for the latest updates.

Every dollar donated goes directly to help support our faculty and students. If you would like to donate supplies, check out the faculty wish list on Amazon. Items purchased off the wish list can be shipped directly to school.

If you would like to make a monetary donation, visit our website to customize your donation and how you'd like to apply it - senior events, student support, communications or membership initiatives, teacher appreciation, or general fundraising.

We also accept donations of refreshments for our gallery receptions and auditions. Look for sign ups soon!

If you haven't joined the guild for the 2024-25 school year, we hope you'll reconsider. Unlike the other conservatories, we do not have ticketed events so we rely on memberships and fundraisers to support our faculty and students. 

And membership has its benefits! 

Did you know that students of members can receive up to $150 grants per semester to help fund school projects or purchase supplies? And did you know that students of members are eligible for our $1500 senior scholarship? Membership in the Visual Arts Guild pays off - for you, your student, their classmates and our faculty!!! 

Check out our membership levels and join or renew today!

Our first guild meeting will follow the PTSA on Tuesday, September 3. The PTSA meets at 6 p.m. in the Commons. We'll meet immediately following in a location TBA. We typically meet as a guild every other month and alternate our guild meetings with a social event. While last year's meetings were in person, we'd like to have virtual options this year. Let us know what you think!

You can find more information about Visual Arts events (marked with an * below) on the guild website. For information on school-wide events, check the school calendar or the PTSA website. Everyone who is a PTSA member or has an active Membership Toolkit account receives the weekly PTSA newsletter.

Visual Arts Guild at BTWHSPVA

2501 Flora St.

Dallas TX 75201