Who: High School Artists and Performers, What: Second Annual Arts Exposition, Where: Yale University, When: March 24

High School Art Expo Coming to Yale

New Haven, CT – Students from 24 area high schools will converge on Yale University, Sunday, March 24, for an afternoon arts extravaganza beginning at noon. Organized by the Southern Connecticut Conference SCC, a cooperative educational council formed in 1993, the Second Annual Arts Exposition will showcase the exceptional talents of its member schools’ students. The Arts Expo will feature music, drama, and visual arts. Sponsored by Yale’s Office of Community Relations, the Expo is open to the public free of charge.

Musical performances will be held at Sheffield-Sterling- Strathcona Hall SSS, on the corner of Grove and Prospect streets in the first floor auditorium. Performers include Amity Regional High School’s Jazz Band and Chamber Singers; Cheshire High’s “VIP’s,” a select chorus; West Haven High’s Choir; Daniel Hand High’s Stage Band and String Ensemble; Hamden High’s Swing Choir; North Haven High’s Chorus and Jazz Quartet; Sheehan High’s Varsity Singers; Branford High’s Orchestra; East Haven High’s Ensemble; Lyman High’s Jazz Ensemble; Shelton High’s Brass Quintet and Jazz Band; and Guilford High’s Jazz Ensemble.

Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College Street, will host the festival’s dramatic presentations. Highlights will include monologues, one act plays and drama workshop performances, including a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film, “Lifeboat,” Tennessee Williams’ “At Liberty,” and several original plays, such as “Marmalade Gumdrops” and “Cancer.” Also on the program is Ben Jonson’s “The Devil is an Ass,” a play first produced in 1623. Students from Shelton, Hamden, Lyman Hall, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Wilbur Cross, Daniel Hand, and Cheshire high schools will participate as actors and, in some cases, directors and authors.

The visual arts will be represented by two- and three- dimensional works exhibited in the President’s Room of Woolsey Hall, on the corner of Grove and Prospect streets. Artists come from the following high schools: West Haven, Branford, Amity, Cheshire, Hillhouse, Sacred Heart, North Haven, Lyman Hall, Derby, Daniel Hand, Guilford, Hamden, Shelton, East Haven, Cross, Mercy and Sheehan.

The Southern Connecticut Conference encourages interaction among the member schools, offering a variety of non-athletic programs which foster students’ academic and leadership abilities. The SCC also develops policies that encourage good sportsmanship and competition for interscholastic athletics.

The SCC Principal’s Committee proposed the idea for an Arts Expo in 1994. The first one was held on March 19, 1995, at Yale University and was such a success that it is now an annual event..