Fine & Performing Arts / Overview

Fine Arts

Welcome to the Office of Fine & Performing Arts

The Department of Fine Arts includes Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts. Fine Arts instruction in the Atlanta Public Schools is standards-driven, sequential, substantive and comprehensive. Fundamental skills established in primary school are deepened and expanded upon each year so that our high school students graduate with appreciation of and skill in the arts. A quality Fine Arts program reflects the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum Standards in which students create, perform, produce; analyze and develop aesthetic understanding; demonstrate knowledge of artists, art history and world cultures; and make connections among the content of the arts, other disciplines and everyday life.

Spotlights

STRING TEACHERS RECEIVE RECOGNITIONS

Audrey

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MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS FOUNDATION HONORS AUDREY REESE, APS STRING TEACHER

Ms. Audrey Reese, string teacher at M. L. King Middle School, is one of five teachers selected nationally to be honored by Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. To receive The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation Award teachers must:
Instill a love of music in their students through instrumental instruction in grades K – 12.
Have the passion, dedication and leadership skills to persevere under difficult circumstances.
Give generously of their time, energy and talent, exceeding what is expected of music educators.
Demonstrate creativity regardless of availability of instruments, materials, and classroom space and budget limitations.
Inspire students and challenge them to attain the highest level of musicianship.
Encourage musical growth through ongoing individual and group performance, auditions and evaluations.
Ms. Reese is a graduate of the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and received her music degree from Columbus University on a full music scholarship. She is a veteran APS teacher with 30 years of experience teaching and performing. Ms. Reese is described as one who has given her all to give the gift of music to her students. She is being sponsored by Guitar Center, Inc. and as a result of this honor Ms. Reese will receive the following:

§ A weekend in New York City for two.
§ A trophy presented in a ceremony at Carnegie Hall
§ $10,000 for her personal use.

Congratulations Ms. Reese, we are so very proud of you.

NATALIE COLBERT SERVES AS STATE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN STRING TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

Natalie Fisher Colbert has been the Sutton Middle School Orchestra Director for 30 years. The Sutton Orchestra Program maintains an enrollment of 100-135 students. The program has had as many as 170 students. Each year, three Sutton orchestras attend the District Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) for evaluation and have consistently earned Superior and Excellent ratings. The orchestra has performed in the All-American Music Festival in Orlando, Florida earning Superior ratings for 10 consecutive years. They have also performed in the National Adjudicators Invitational earning Superior ratings. In 2010 the orchestra was awarded “Most Outstanding Strings, “Best Middle School Orchestra”

Mrs. Colbert has developed the orchestra program at Sutton to be one that is inclusive and reaches out to all students. An important aspect of the curriculum is chamber music and exposure to music of many cultures. In the orchestra program at Sutton there is a Private Lesson Program, Mariachi Ensemble and a Jazz/Hip-Hop Orchestra is currently developing. The classroom has frequent professional coaching sessions, master classes and performances by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra members and community musicians.

Mrs. Colbert is the 2011 President for the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. She frequently serves as adjudicator and clinician throughout the state as well as in Tennessee and Alabama. She has also recently been elected as the GMEA State Orchestra Division Chairman for 2011 -2013.