Monday: film and photography. Tuesday: music and literary arts. Wednesday: ceramics and studio arts. Friday: performing arts. These four days made up Arts Week, an annual celebration of the arts organized and hosted by the Archer Council of Artists.
The event spanned from Monday, March 16, to Friday, March 20, with a brief pause of festivities Thursday, March 19, in order to celebrate Grandparents and Special Friends Day. The celebration took place across campus, with artwork on display everywhere from the Prism gallery to the Rose Room.
The planning process began in the first semester, ACA faculty advisor and ceramics teacher Dulce Ibarra said. Ibarra, who is new to Archer this year, said they were initially nervous to be the advisor, but they found their transition effortless thanks to the ACA’s student-led structure. They said the students’ displayed their independence through planning and facilitating Arts Week.
“I was there to support their ideas. I was there to help them organize, but honestly, it was all the students. I just supported them in areas that I felt most comfortable in,” Ibarra said, “but otherwise, they were here almost every week just planning it out, mapping everything out, continuously sending me their schedules. And I would give some edits, as well as Mr. Schenck, who offered a lot of help and guidance in that as well.”
This was the second Arts Week the ACA had hosted, as Vice President Olivia Boehm (‘26) came up with the idea last year. Inspired by the club’s annual Arts Fest, Boehm encouraged the ACA to expand the event from a single lunch period to a weeklong affair.
“The goal is to represent all arts at Archer, especially for the people who aren’t in the gallery or the people who aren’t seniors yet or are in middle school. As somebody who’s been here from sixth grade, when I was in eighth grade, I started making art that I took seriously. If there was this kind of an event, I’d be really excited,” Boehm said. “It’s less about a label of whether or not you’re an artist. It’s more about if you make art and like it, that makes you more of a full person.”
On Monday, students broadcast their films in the Screening Room and displayed their photography across campus.
On Tuesday, student poetry was exhibited in the Zimmer Family Gallery and alumna Paulina DePaulo (’23) performed in the Rose Room with her a cappella group, the Ransom Notes, from the University of Chicago.
Following her Tuesday performance, DePaulo said coming back to Archer was electrifying and felt like a “full-circle” moment.
“I’m actually geeking out. I was very excited. Seeing all my old teachers in the audience is so sweet,” DePaulo said. “I went here since sixth grade, so I’ve been here a long time. I did all the musicals, and I was in choir for a while. I was always involved in something musical. I took all the musical classes here as well. It just helped me foster an environment in the arts, so when I went to college, I knew that I wanted to continue doing extracurriculars.”
Ibarra’s favorite day of the festival was Wednesday. On Wednesday, ACA Ceramic Arts Director Quinn Evans-Agard (‘26) — joined by other members of the ACA — led a workshop in the courtyard, teaching students to make pinch pots. Ceramic and studio artworks were also on display in the Zimmer Gallery and Arts Hallway.
“It was so good to have so many students just stand around, making pottery, and also being like, ‘This is so fun,’ the whole time,” Ibarra said. “A lot of them were just getting their first hands on a piece of clay.”
The week concluded with recorded dance performances on display in the Prism Gallery and a Drama Queens improv event in the Black Box.
Boehm said her favorite part of Arts Week was learning about the Archer community’s artistic passions. She said seeing the works of art that ACA member Hollyn Alpert (‘29) had created and brought to Archer to be displayed over the week stuck out to her.
“I knew that Hollyn played piano, but I did not know that Hollyn made such great art. She is a great artist, and she is the future of this club and the future of Archer,” Boehm said, “and I just think that stuff always sticks with me. I hope I stay in contact with her because this club has really provided me with some great connections.”
