Awesome artistic work warrants a virtual venue worthy of the content.
That’s why the Wilton School District‘s Fine and Performing Arts (FAPA) collective has upgraded and expanded its website, hoping to disseminate more information to the community while also highlighting the exceptional work of the district’s student creators.
“In the launch of this new website, we hoped to expand the original vision to be a place where families could get all the information they might need about Fine and Performing Arts in Wilton,” explained Malcolm Karlan, the orchestra director at Middlebrook School, who also serves as one of the district’s four FAPA instructional leaders.
“This includes not only photos and videos of student work, but also calendars, information for students, announcements, course descriptions, student handbooks, frequently asked questions, staff bios, and more,” he said.
The FAPA instructional team was able to enlist the volunteer help of parent Sarah Beach, a mom of three who runs Beach Creative Consultancy, a Wilton-based creative design and marketing firm.
“FAPA had an existing website, which had been beautifully designed a few years ago, but it was very underused,” she said, with Wilton High School art teacher Susana Estes having handled that launch.
“She and I worked together,” Beach said, “to bring the new logo in line with the Wilton Public Schools’ branding, so you will note we have the same colors in our logo and on our site, and the (same) font.”
“The site will (ultimately) be linked to the main public school site and we want it to look and feel connected,” she said.
Karlan explained that the initial intention of the site came about during the pandemic “as a place to host concert videos and photos of student artwork, especially during a time when we couldn’t always gather to see these things together.”
Estes herself said the previous version of the website was more of a “rough draft.”
“The design was simple and rudimentary,” she said, “intended as a collaborative and presentation tool, rather than for public release. As a result, many sections lacked real content from the various schools and departments, and several areas were just placeholders.”
“This version of the site feels much more polished and intentional, providing a comprehensive space for each department to shine,” she said. “I believe it fits well with Wilton town branding and effectively represents the FAPA departments,” which include art, music and theater.
Content by School and By Discipline
The new site offers a wide range of content, with each major discipline having its own home page and a section offered for each school. There are descriptions of art offerings through the schools, course descriptions, and explanations of curriculum guidelines.
The site has a large amount of biographical material on instructors, including photos and background material. There is also a wide selection of student artwork to be viewed, watched and heard, including concert videos.
The new site, which also features a password-protected area for direct communications between teachers and students, has a district-wide arts calendar, which lists rehearsal and performance dates, and can be customized by users.
“The FAPA site is important to connect the Wilton community with the Wilton Public Schools’ fine and performing arts opportunities for students,” said Michael Gordon, a FAPA instructional leader and music teacher at Middlebrook.
“The arts are essential to the fabric of Wilton and the Wilton Public Schools,” he said.
“The FAPA site showcases students being socially sensitive, active citizens, balanced and healthy human beings,” he said, praising the work and the forum.
“With a social media connection to keep visitors updated in near real-time, the FAPA site is the place to go for information,” he said, as well as serving as an archive to see students’ awards, performances, shows and more.
Estes called the new site “fully realized.”
“The new site truly reflects the creativity and diversity of the FAPA programs — something that wasn’t possible with the original concept,” she said.
“I’m excited to see how the community interacts with the site and how it supports our growing programs,” she said.
Beach, whose own children have been very involved with the arts and who has served as a school volunteer in previous capacities, said it was a fun experience working on the project.
“With this being my last year with a child in the school system, I really hope I’m not only creating something useful but also providing a window for parents into the absolutely amazing Fine and Performing Arts Program we have here in Wilton,” she said.
“We shouldn’t take it for granted,” she said. “We should support it and our dedicated teachers, who go above and beyond on a daily basis for all our kids.”
Karlan and others commended Beach for her work.
“Sarah Beach has been incredibly generous in donating her time and professional expertise to this project,” he said.
“And, of course, we are very grateful to all FAPA teachers who have provided material to populate this site,” he said.
“We hope that the community will find this website to be useful and that it will highlight the achievements of Wilton students.
Check out the new website here.
Heather — Just a quick note to say that was a great article regarding Sarah. She’s been doing a great job with FAPA and I am delighted you have given her (and FAPA) the respect and recognition they have so greatly earned. Cheers and many thanks. Al