Houston’s Via Colori Street Art Festival to Showcase SBISD Student Artists

Over 200 international artists will converge on the streets of Houston to create public art and raise funds for The Center for Hearing and Speech, a local non-profit that serves children with hearing loss, as part of the city’s Via Colori Street Art Festival.

The festival, Saturday, Nov. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 19, will transform sidewalks near downtown City Hall into a massive outdoor gallery space.   Click here for event highlights and times.

This year, Spring Woods High School artist Raul Gomez, Spring Woods High School Class of 2018, will represent the Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) in the annual event.

Gomez loves creating art and it’s something he wants to pursue as a profession after high school graduation. Gomez’s design for the festival, a 3-dimensional drawing of a Volkswagen bus, was created to honor the festival’s theme of decades.

Smiling as he shares his sketch for the work, it’s obvious he’s excited and proud to be representing the school district at the festival. For Gomez, it’s about being part of the larger art community while sharing with those around him.

“It’s about my teachers, my friends, my school and my school district. There are a lot of things to make me feel proud about this,” said Gomez. “It’s not just me. It’s all of us. It’s about everyone coming together and sharing this experience.”

Ask art educator Rene Kleaver, fondly known as Miss K at Spring Woods High School, what she thinks about Gomex and her high school representing the district at the annual festival, and it’s obvious she is beyond thrilled to be part of a collaboration that extends the positive impact of the creative arts.

Kleaver is assisting fellow art educator, Rebekah Tee, to coordinate student artist for the festival. Students will be actively engaged in creating art during the festival, doing chalk work as well as running a face-painting booth.

Both educators see the opportunity as a way to expand the campus art program and empowering students to be part of a much large dialogue about what it means to be a community.

“We’re having our students be leaders,” said Kleaver. “We have great talent here. It’s about showcasing that talent and giving back.” As part of that giving back, high school participants will mentor middle school art students in their feeder patterns to train them on the ins and outs of a community art project experience.

This focus on growing and connecting student artist within the school community and across the district is something that Kleaver and Tee see as critical when defining what student participation and success look like.

“Art is incredibly important to the development of the individual and to the collective,” said Kleaver.

“Being part of something like this connects kids to the idea that they can do this as a profession. It creates a situation where kids see artists making art and being successful. It connects them to the steps necessary to be successful. If you want to be an artist you can do it. There is power in that.”

Connecting students to real-world experiences and pathways to career success directly supports the district goal of Spring Branch T-2-4.

“This is a little seed we’re trying to grow a big tree from,” said Kleaver. That tree is being watered and grown by District Arts Coordinator Sally Doyle.

Doyle is making an investment by purchasing street art kits for use across the school district.  District art students can connect and collaborate across the system using these resources.

“Proud. It’s amazing. I am proud to be part of this work,” said student artist Dorian Jordan, Spring Woods High School Class of 2018. Dorian is a Leading Junior Artist for the Via Colori Festival. This is the third street art festival for Dorian.

“This is what it is,” says Dorian. “This is the group, and it’s amazing. It makes you want to be part of something bigger than yourself.”

General admission tickets for the festival are currently on sale for $10. Click here to learn more. For directions and a map of the festival, click here.

 “This is not the end goal. This is the beginning of great things,” said Kleaver. “This is setting the tone and the bar for student artist in our school district. The power of public art and giving back is bringing our art and campus communities together, and that’s a wonderful thing to be part of.”

If you’re interested in supporting the outstanding art programming in SBISD, contact district Art Coordinator, Sally Doyle at sally.doyle@springbranchisd.com.