This year’s Arts Fest was anticipated by many Reading students to display their hard work and creativity that they’ve worked to perfect for the event that has since been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellation of the event comes with great sadness as so many students were looking forward to displaying their original pieces. It’s an enormous casualty to the community and art community within reading that will hopefully have a new date in the upcoming future. 

Junior Tara Parsons, who is President of the Art Club at RMHS, was looking forward to displaying her many works of art this year. She shares how the cancellation has affected not only her, but the whole community. Arts Fest gives the opportunity to all students to display their work and broadens their reach to our town. Tara’s work has been featured in Arts Fest for every year she’s done art as a class, which has been the last three years she’s been enrolled at RMHS, while she’s been honored in the years before as well. She’s loved attending Arts Fest in the past and feels honored to have had her work featured among other great student work. 

When finding out about the cancellation, Tara shares that she was upset, alongside everyone else involved, because she was looking forward to seeing everyone else’s work and celebrating the talent. Although the cancellation is a sad factor of the recent pandemic, Tara understands the necessity of it being cancelled as to stop the spreading of the coronavirus. 

Tara shares her piece titled “Strangers” which is a portrait of Ray Davies, the frontman of the British rock band, The Kinks. Behind him is the carefully crafted lyrics of the song “Strangers” by the band. The beautiful portrait is pictured above, showcasing her clear talent and inspiration that sparks her ongoing creativity. 

“It’s my favorite song and really speaks to the twists and turns in life— it’s quite fitting especially with all that’s going on— and the song also describes how life is an individual experience. I think the lyrics are extremely poetic, beautiful, and frank and I hope that my piece illustrates the lyrics along with Davies,” Tara shares. 

With no new date set in place, the current art students are trying to find new ways to communicate their work. Tara anticipates next year’s Arts Fest and the honor to showcase what she loves to do most, draw.