Hopkins Hosts Annual Arts Week

Anvi Pathak ’26 Assistant Arts Editor Jo Reymond ’26 Assistant Arts Editor

Facilitated by Arts faculty Robert Smith, Jonathan Nast, and Erika Schroth, Hopkins’ annual Arts Week took place from May 15-19. The week consisted of various artistic events, such as the Pho Sho, the Dance Crew Showcase, and other creative activities.

The festivities began with the Dance Crew Showcase, which took place on Monday, May 15, and was led by Vedant Aryan ’24. Nia McKeithen ’26, a member of the Dance Crew, shared that the club planned “to bring back old performances, such as the ones from Back to School Bash and Night on Haunted Hill, yet also mix in new choreographies during [their] showcase.” Aryan added that “the majority of these performances will be student choreography.” The showcase included many different forms of dance, such as “hip-hop, Bollywood, and contemporary”. The main idea behind the Dance Crew Showcase, according to Aryan, was to make up for dance’s lack of representation at Hopkins. He noticed the “incredible dance talent at Hopkins and wanted to create a platform for dancers to share that talent.” In a similar sentiment, McKeithen stated that her goal behind the Showcase was to celebrate “everyone’s talents and hard work over the school year to contribute to Arts Week at Hopkins.”

Jonathan Nast, an Arts teacher, presented the Hopkins community with something new and exciting for Arts Week. The first ever Pho Sho took place in the Keator Gallery and presented work from community members of all levels of photographic experience and mastery. The exhibition featured “the work of term two ‘Digi Pho’ students: beginning, intermediate, and advanced.”He concluded by describing the central purpose of the Pho Sho, it was a very important step in featuring digital photography art outside of the Thompson basement. Nast also remarked, “ I’d like to think people make an effort to come down to the basement when it’s advertised, [but] that’s not always the case.” He recounted how he wanted to create “a location on campus that would invite all sorts of people that don’t normally come into Thompson [so] they can view and live with the work.”

In addition to the Pho Sho and the Dance Crew Performance, there were several other collaborative creative endeavors. These activities were hosted during Arts Week. Such activities included t-shirt tie dye, CD wrapping, as well as a huge Jackson Pollock style artwork outside on the grass on Thompson quad. Nast said, “Art Week is the culmination of a year of work, but we also wanted to give students who don’t normally participate in arts or take art classes a chance to participate in something fun.” According to Chair of the Arts Department Robert Smith, “It’s that accessibility and the community aspect of arts week that we’re trying to develop and foster,” especially given that students often cannot make it to concerts or other productions. Smith summarized the event’s purpose: “We’re trying to make art a little more [of a] part of school culture.”

Arts week acts as a unifier between students and teachers alike. Aryan explained that “Arts Week brings the community together through the empathy between the audience and artists, created by the art [itself].” McKeithen added, “Whether it be poetry, song, dance, or something else in the creative field, sharing the works of other Hopkins students through Arts Week allows us to share our personalities, our experiences, our struggles, and our emotions throughout this year with other people just like us.”

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Hopkins Hosts Annual Arts Week