Student creativity celebrated at Ocean View School District Festival of the Arts
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Aislinn Cortez was like a kid in a candy store.
The Vista View Middle School eighth grader looked around at all of the art displayed at the third annual Ocean View School District Festival of the Arts.
“I love how some are sketch, some are paint, some are watercolor, some are just stamping, some are woodshop. I love the different types of art,” she said.
“Art is a lot of things,” Aislinn added, knowingly.
Her piece, “La Niñez,” displayed an elderly person with a cane holding hands with a child. The piece was inspired by the Mexican game of “Lotería,” which is similar to bingo.
It was one of many forms of expression on display at the third annual festival, which was held Thursday night at the Ocean View School District office.
While artwork was displayed inside, many students performed — solo and in groups — on a stage outside.
Even the event program carried artwork by a student in the fifth grade at Hope View Elementary School.
Ocean View School District has 10 elementary schools and three middle schools and serves the cities of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Midway City and Westminster.
Hayden Cunningham, a sixth grader at Marine View Middle School, proudly displayed his intricate drawing of a rattlesnake.
“I’ve been drawing it for four months, drawing each scale meticulously,” Hayden said. “Mr. [Andrew] Estrada is just an awesome teacher. He’s really helped me a lot with my art skills.”
Middle school students from Marine View, Mesa View and Vista View all performed outside, along with special performances by the Fountain Valley High School band and Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts students.
The Vista View mariachi band, which capped the event, also entertained the crowd.
Reagan Headrick, the district deputy superintendent of human resources, served as a judge for a cookie decorating contest. She noted that district food and nutrition services kitchen staff were providing food along with food truck options, while district custodians assisted guests with parking.
“It’s really nice to see the Ocean View team show up for tonight,” Headrick said.
Mikayla Nguyen, an eighth grader at Vista View, is part of a dance team that performed its hip-hop routine, “Y2K MTV Unlocked.” The set included several familiar songs from the early 2000s, from artists like Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera, Eminem and Usher.
Mikayla said the group had been practicing twice a week, to get the timing right.
“[This event] just gives a way for kids to explore what they want to do in the future,” said Mikayla, who will be a freshman at Fountain Valley High School in the fall. “As fifth-graders, what they want to do in middle school, or fourth graders, elementary kids. [They can say], ‘Oh my gosh, I want to dance like them.’”
