Through hosting many different artists and singers, Art and Soul Fest, which was held at the high school from 6-9 p.m. on March 18, brought awareness to the arts in school. Art and Soul Fest started 10 years ago as a senior project by then senior Anthony Delaware in 2012.To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Art and Soul Fest, the club decided on a decade theme. Art and Soul co-advisor Sean Redmond expressed excitement
for a decade of art and soul. “I think just seeing the hype for how long it’s been going on [and how] it’s been successful through the pandemic,” Redmond said. “I think that the whole cycle of it being a decade long is epic.” Redmond said he was very proud of the student leaders this year who put the festival together. “They talked about the space, the layout and everything so I feel like that’s why it’s so important.” Redmond said. “It’s a student’s voice making the decisions rather than a teacher’s voice.” Senior leader Ally Lemon has been involved in the club since she was a freshman.
Lemon said that while she feels lucky to be in a district that has appreciation for the arts, that a night dedicated to celebrating solely them is important. “Souderton is really lucky because we have really good art and music programs,” Lemon said. “Even things that we don’t think
about and take for granted like being able to have choir as an actual class rather than a club, having a variety of different art studios like clay and pottery and painting.” Lemon said that she thinks the opportunity to show off a wide variety of art was something that she loves about the festival. “The Film Club is coming to show their stuff because that’s art [and] we had someone reach out to us about blacksmithing,” Lemon said. “I think just kind of raising awareness for all different kinds of abstract forms of art is something that the club is really useful for.” This year the festival featured many new experiences as well as experiences brought back after COVID-19, including an open mic section and a table with art created by the founder of Art and Soul Fest. “We reached out to [Delaware] this year because it’s the tenth year and we wanted him to come back to have his own table to display his own artwork because he still makes art,” Lemon said. “We wanted him to have his own table so he could come to the fest and tell his story and to commemorate the anniversary of Art and Soul.” Art and Soul Fest co-advisor Jon Timmons said one thing he thought was “neat” about the event was that it was not just limited to the high school. The festival included performances from the Indian Valley and Indian Crest Middle
Schools along with artwork from kindergarden through twelfth grade. “I think when the younger kids get to see the older kids doing all this stuff it plants the seed for them to keep coming through elementary school and through high school which is what we want to see,” Timmons said. “We want to see the kids that are really passionate about it keep those classes in their schedule all the way up through senior year.”