Looking Towards Next Year: ISAS Arts Festival at Casady

The Independent School Association of the Southwest Arts Festival, better known as ISAS, is a longstanding tradition in the SPC conference where all the schools congregate and bring students from all over to showcase their art and music abilities to a variety of students from a variety of schools. The festival is widely appreciated by all the schools who attend, and is a highlight of the school year for most students. Next year, the festival will take place at Casady for its 50^th anniversary. This has brought forth a ton of excitement from those involved in the arts, but also for the entire Casady community.Many students are curious as to what the festival will be like, and I turned to Mrs. Seitter and Mrs. Pardue to get the answers that will help students understand what they have to look forward to next year.Q- “How many students are expected to attend this year?”Pardue- At least 3000.Q- “How many days is the festival?”Pardue- We won’t have school the week leading up to the festival, but the festival starts Thursday afternoon and ends on Saturday.Q- “What kind of food options will the festival have?”Pardue- Sage caters the food, but there will be food trucks on campus, too.Q- “What has been your favorite part of ISAS in the past?”Seitter- All the driving… No, I really like the idea of the whole festival, the representation of the art. I like the entirety of it all, but one of my favorite parts for sure is the workshops.Pardue- I like the camaraderie - there’s a very fun energy at the festivals. It’s nice to see how passionate the kids are about their art, and that they’re in a safe place to express themselves.Q- “What plans for next year are you most excited about?”Seitter- I’m excited to see the individual artwork pieces each school will bring to express themselves that will be put around the lake.Pardue- I’m excited for the workshops; it’s fun to expand your knowledge at the festivals.Q- “Is there anything different about the festival this year?”Seitter- We’ve been talking about schools submitting creative writing, and also about poetry slams, so those would be interesting things that are relatively different. It’s the 50^th anniversary of the festival, so we’re trying to bring back tradition.  Things that haven’t been used in a while.  We’re also trying to have famous alumni of the schools make 6 second vines. That would be really cool.Pardue- Things flow and change at every festival, but as Mrs. Seitter said earlier, every school is bringing an art piece in the form of a dream catcher to showcase their school’s identity. The schools meet in the fall to discuss the festival, so it’s exciting to see what people come up with.Q- “What can students at Casady do to be involved?”Seitter- Anybody can help! Come to us and we can help you find a way to contribute. There’s so many things that need to be done. We’ll need help getting art up and putting decorations up everywhere.Q- “What are you most looking forward to?”Seitter- I’m excited to see teachers I’ve gotten to know over the years.  We all have a great bond through the festival.Pardue- I’m excited to see all the artwork and to talk to teachers. I love to get new ideas from them.It's evident from these responses that next year's ISAS will not only be a success, but also a complete blast. The amount of effort and work already put into the festival clearly shows the enthusiasm and dedication the schools involved have towards the arts. The main thing the people in our Casady community can do to make it even better is to think of ways to contribute to this process and leave a mark on this awesome festival. I, for one, cannot wait to see what is to come.