Upper School Arts

The upper school fine arts program values creative expression above all else. We recognize and value our students as artists first and foremost. Our philosophy allows students to flourish in an environment of free-thinking, unrestricted innovative expression and ingenuity, allowing artists to develop their individual voices.

The visual arts program nurtures award-winning painters, sculptors, photographers, animators, potters, fashion designers and conceptual installation artists. These artists have won many local and state-level awards as well as national recognition. Our serious visual artists are also welcome to join our National Arts Honors Society chapter.

In the performing arts, our dancers, singers, writers, actors, poets, comedians, songwriters, musicians and choreographers thrive with the many opportunities offered in both the course curriculum and after school options. Many Parker students participate in our after-school performing arts program, Dramatiques, which puts on a fall play and a spring musical production each year, voted on by the students. Students can take part both on stage and off as lighting, set and program designers; costumers and make-up artists; choreographers; musical directors and assistant directors, as well as actors, singers and dancers.

Number of Students Recognized by Scholastic Art Awards:

2017: 1 National Silver Medal, 1 American Visions Nominee, 4 Gold Key, 6 Silver Key recipients
2015: 1 National Silver Medal

Students in grades 7–12 apply in 29 categories of art and writing with more than 330,000 works submitted each year.  Students receiving Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Visions & Voices Nominations are celebrated within their regional communities through local exhibitions and ceremonies. Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative–industry experts with approximately the top 1%, some 2,750 recipients, receiving National Medals. National Medalist are recognized at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Number of Students Recognized by Kaha Ki’i 2nd Congressional District Art Competition:

2016: 4 Finalists (all Big Island finalists from Parker School)
2015: 1 First Place

The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students in Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District and is part of a nation-wide high school arts competition. Approximately 20 finalists are chosen each year from nearly 150 submissions. The first place artwork is displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol, along with winning artwork from all participating districts around the country, as well as featured on the House Congressional Art Competition website. The second and third place selections are hung in the Hawaii State Representative’s Washington D.C. and Hawai’i offices for a one-year period.

Performing Arts Department

The Parker School Performing Arts Program includes elective classes, student clubs, and our after-school program, Dramatiques. We seek to develop creative, intelligent, and compassionate artist-scholars. Through the study of various disciplines (including acting, dance, chorus, musical theatre, dramaturgy, technical theatre, and theatre management, our program strives to:

  • nurture creativity at various levels of participation in course electives and extracurricular productions, in order to prepare students for college majors and professions and to foster a life-long appreciation of the cultural and performing arts
  • challenge and inspire our students towards excellence through learning experiences that develop aesthetic and critical skills as well as foster respect, joy, collaboration, leadership, socialization, and intercultural communication through the arts
  • entertain, reflect and serve our school, community, and island `ohana by presenting public performances inclusive of classic and contemporary plays, original student work, and art forms rooted in and connected to the culture of Hawai`i

Parker School Theatre

The historic Parker School Theatre primarily serves as the learning center of our performing arts classes and productions, as well as a gathering place for our school’s events and meetings. Our theatre also functions as a unique community venue shared by visiting presenters such as performing groups, theatre companies, film festivals, and non-profit organizations.

Dramatiques

Students in grades six through twelve are eligible to join Parker’s after school drama club, Dramatiques, for course credit. Auditions are held for the fall play and spring musical, and students may get involved both onstage and behind the scenes as stage managers, costumers, make-up artists, assistant directors, choreographers, lighting designers/technicians, props managers, program designers, and house managers.