On April 30, the 44th annual Consortium ArtFest displayed artwork from local K-8 students as well as Stevenson students in the Fieldhouse, with an evening reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. In addition to viewing the showcase, community members also had an opportunity to participate in various activities like coloring, painting, and button-making during the reception.
Consortium ArtFest is meant to give feeder school students the opportunity to showcase their work. Additionally, according to art teacher Maureen Connolly, Consortium allows feeder school students to interact with the Stevenson art program before entering high school.
“[K-8 students] kind of [assume that Stevenson is] a big scary place,” Connolly said. “[Consortium] is a good opportunity for those kids to see what they’re getting themselves into.”
(Vivian Zhu)
Not only does Consortium introduce middle schoolers to the Fine Arts Department at Stevenson, it also features fundraising initiatives. The Empty Bowls Project Fundraiser table sold handmade ceramic bowls for $5 each, with proceeds going to the Vernon Township Food Pantry. According to MJ Petrov ’25, who volunteered at the table for the past two years, the Project raised $200 from the 2023 Consortium.
“Honestly, this project,” Petrov said when asked about her favorite part of consortium. “I get to hang out with people I like, I get to sell bowls to people and raise money for charity.”
Petrov also notes that her experience as a Consortium participant in elementary school was personally inspiring and made her more inclined to take art classes. For Consortium, Stevenson students currently enrolled in any art class were able to display one piece of artwork, including videos by 2D and 3D Animation students, which played on two looping TV screens on each end of the Fieldhouse.
These animated videos were displayed alongside multimedia collages, pottery, photography, and other forms of art. Art teacher Patrick Fairchild sees the variety of artwork at Consortium as a culmination of artistic talent in the local community, for both K-8 and Stevenson students.
“Consortium is to celebrate,” Fairchild said. “[There’s] so much artwork here [and] it’s so fun to see it all, especially at the end of the year.”