Greenhill will be holding the annual Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Arts Festival on April 9. Due to COVID-19, Greenhill and Parish Episcopal School will be co-hosting a mini-ISAS Art Festival this year.

This festival gives students in fine arts an opportunity to showcase and perform their finished work and art. ISAS allows students to learn from each other and receive constructive feedback from their peers.

Head of Fine Arts Terry Martin explained how Greenhill is excited to give students an experience of what the ISAS Arts Festival is like.

“I am looking forward to providing at least a taste of what a full ISAS is for our students,” said Martin. “While we are not quite ready to have a full one yet, we decided let’s do a mini one [at Greenhill] and at least give our students and a few people in the ISAS schools in the area an opportunity to have a mini celebration of what it’s like to come together in the spring.”

The last group of students who got the chance to experience a full ISAS experience was a handful of freshmen who are now seniors. Senior Hallie Sternblitz remembers how watching people perform was a good learning experience.

“I love seeing the other schools perform and I do choir and the musical, so I love watching the other choirs and other musicals and seeing what other schools are doing,” said Sternblitz. “A lot of times schools are doing a musical that we did in past years or are going to do, and we can take ideas from other schools.”

At ISAS, students from different schools in the Dallas area get the opportunity to learn from each other and learn about new fine arts that they are not a part of.

“ISAS is a lot different than a sports tournament because we aren’t competing against each other, we are more learning from each other,” said Sternblitz. “It’s really cool to take ideas from other schools and groups.”

Because Greenhill and Parish will be co-hosting this event, there will be shuttles available to take students between the two schools. This way everyone will get the chance to experience everything they want.

“This year, students should expect a different ISAS than usual. While there will not be as many activities as usual, we will have community art projects,” said Martin. “It’s more about coming together and being on the two campuses for the day and getting an opportunity to see the other schools work and celebrate fine arts.”