June 24, 2025

Good afternoon Visual Arts students, parents and supporters! We hope everyone is having a festive and restful summer break. A couple of announcements, just to let you know we are thinking about you.

Don't forget Pegasus Pick Up, our annual registration and orientation event, is July 30 (Class of 2026), July 31 (Class of 2028 in the morning, Class of 2027 in the afternoon) and August 1 (Class of 2029 - Flight School in the morning, PPU in the afternoon). If you want to avoid some lines at the event or you can't make it, you can do some things online now:

• Join the Visual Arts Guild: Memberships start at $25. 
• Pay the supply fee: The Visual Arts Guild collects a $25 supply fee on behalf of the Visual Arts Conservatory to help ensure classrooms have supplies for the variety of classes available to our students including drawing, painting, fibers, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, welding, printmaking, 2D and 3D design.

And if you are unable to attend Pegasus Pick Up, don't worry. Your student will be able to catch up the first week of school.

Visual Arts Conservatory senior headshots will be taken once school starts, likely the week of August 18. More information will be distributed later in the summer and directly to students once school has started.

Conservatory headshots ARE NOT yearbook photos. These go on the Visual Arts senior wall outside Mr. Clark's room and are used throughout the year at Portfolio Day, Showcase, and the senior dinner. For the $25 sitting fee, you will get one digital download and can select any number of photos from your gallery for an additional fee.

As you may know, many of the gallery walls in the Hudson Gallery are in disrepair. Rather than provide temporary painting and patching, we would like to build custom walls that would not only be an optimal backdrop for our students' work, they would be easier to move and reconfigure to accommodate all exhibits and events. (If you've ever moved one of the gallery walls, you know.)

To raise the required funds, we are launching a unique opportunity to 'own' a small part of the Hudson Gallery. For a $500 donation, an engraved metallic plaque with your inscription will be attached to a new gallery wall. All sponsors will be recognized (as requested) on our website, in our newsletter and at a reception during the 2025-26 school year.

Visit the Visual Arts Guild website for more details and to secure your sponsorship.

If you were a guild member in the 2024-25 school year, your membership expired on May 30. Please consider renewing for 2025-26. And if you haven't joined, please read more about our membership levels and join today. We rely on memberships, donations and sponsors to fund the programs and resources we provide our faculty and students. THANK YOU for your support!

The Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD) is hosting its Summer Gallery Walk on June 28 from 12-5 p.m. This FREE event brings together a diverse range of contemporary art and events, featuring current and opening exhibitions, performances, an ice cream truck, refreshments and walkthroughs. Galleries include Conduit Gallery, Craighead Green Gallery, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Erin Cluley Gallery, Galleri Urbane, James Harris Gallery, Keijsers Koning, Laura Rathe, Pencil on Paper, and Ro2. Get more details on the CADD website.

Congratulations to Visual Arts faculty Jessica Bell on her inclusion in the Who Are Our Neighbors? public art initiative led by Sharing Sacred Spaces in partnership with Thanks-Giving Foundation and the Dallas Housing Authority. Her piece is entitled Tree of Life.

Happy summer birthdays to Visual Arts faculty members Kyle Clark, Krystal Read, and Cassie Benzenberg.

Want to volunteer in 2025-26? There is something for everyone - whether you want to donate food, help out for a shift (or two), join or lead a committee, or serve as an officer. Get more information on volunteer needs and committees on the guild website. First up, Pegasus Pick Up and the faculty breakfast on August 7.

Each year the conservatory guilds provide a back-to-school breakfast for all faculty. The Visual Arts Guild will host Thursday, August 7 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. Parents and students are welcome to sign up to volunteer. If you prefer, you can make a monetary donation to offset the cost to the guild.

DISD has released the approved calendar for the 2025-26 school year. Below are upcoming school and conservatory events. Visual Arts Conservatory and guild events are marked with *.

Visual Arts Guild at BTWHSPVA

2501 Flora St.

Dallas TX 75201