HCS Art/STEAM Expo May 4

HALEYVILLE       -  The 4th annual Art/STEAM Expo at Haleyville City Schools will be unlike anything ever experienced before, complete with a new time slot and new experiences during an entire campus open house showcasing student talent.
This year’s Art/STEAM Expo will take place Thursday, May 4, from 5-7 p.m., with an entire campus open house, with the public encouraged to go throughout the classrooms and hallways to see students’ art, as well as STEAM-related projects.
STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, will be expanded in its showcase at HCS more than ever before, pointed out HCS STEAM Coordinator Candy Garner. Each building on campus, including the elementary, middle, high school as well as the center of technology, will have art and STEAM-related projects on display, while the newly renovated high school gym and the general buildings will be open to the public, as well, school officials explained.
“The beauty of doing it this way is to let the parents see the great things that are going on across our campus,” Garner said. “It’s an opportunity for them to see what all we offer.”
The public will also be invited to tour  accomplishments outside the buildings, such as cosmetic improvements, outdoor classroom progress, etc., school officials said.
In the past, HCS used an Atlanta-based company which framed and showcased students’ art in a professional-style art gallery setting, school officials said.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, the company’s prices for preparing the art for display continued to rise, so the school was not getting back enough money from the expo to put back into the STEAM program, Garner explained.
“We were making very little money and decided this year, it was time to do something different,” Garner pointed out.
In the past, the Art/STEAM Expo was held in the fall so the framed pieces of art could be purchased by students’ families as Christmas gifts. The company also reproduced pieces of work for family members, Garner noted.
“This year, it will not be that way because we are doing it ourselves.  We are going to our in-house company: us,” she pointed out. “We will not be offering reproductions.”
The main reason for moving the event to May is to have a breath of fresh air after testing has been completed, according to school officials.
“Somewhat like a spring fling,” Garner said.
The process of each student having framed artwork in the expo will continue as in previous years, school officials said.  The school system  purchased frames for the artwork, at a cheaper cost than prices the previous company was charging, Garner explained.
The framed art will not be on display at central locations on each campus, but in each classroom, according to Garner.
“Every homeroom classroom will be showcased,” Garner pointed out.

Framed student art is being purchased ahead of the expo in a pre-sale which began this week April 24, and will go through Wednesday, May 3, which will be the day before the expo, officials said.