Welcome to ArtBreak

ArtBreak Festival Weekend - MUST SEE!

  • KTAL's ArtBreak's Got Talent

    The talent show features fine arts performances by students, including, but not limited to singers, musicians, dancers, dramatic performances, comedy skits, and monologues. ArtBreak awards more than $1,000 in cash prizes including a $500 Best of Show prize, a $200 People’s Choice award, and $200 Best Elem, Middle/High awards. Yes, you could be a star.

  • Film Prize Jr.

    Film Prize Jr.

    FILM PRIZE JR. is back and Better than ever, with lots of new and exciting changes. The statewide competition— started by Tobias Kallenberg in his teen years—has expanded to include both middle and high school students ages 11-18. You can watch the films at ArtBreak, Friday and Saturday!

  • Fashion Forward Competition

    Grab your Scissors, Needle and Thread…Bring the Safety Pins and Hair Spray and get ready for the Pressure! The dynamic Fashion Instruction Duo at Caddo Career & Technology Center will present the top Fashion Designers in Caddo Parish High Schools!

  • Sizzle Culinary Competition

    CCTC students will be donning chef hats and wielding knives to create an appetizer, entrée and dessert using a secret ingredient. The competition features four to six pre-selected Top Chefs from CCTC and individual scoring is done for each course by a team of professional chefs from the most dynamic local restaurants along with personal chefs and caterers. You’re going to “eat up” this showcase competition!

  • Poetry Out Loud

    “To be or not to be: that is the question.” At one time, this line from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” was recited frequently in English classrooms throughout the country. Thanks to a national arts education program presented in partnership with the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Poetry Foundation the study and recitation of great poetry is again being encouraged for high school students across the country.

Hands-On STEAM
Art Projects taught by Professional Artists!

The ArtBreak Festival was created in 1984 when funding cuts threatened to eliminate the arts instructors’ positions and the community arts partnerships in Caddo Parish Public Schools.  A team of administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community leaders came together to develop a means of promoting the importance of arts education as a key component of the total curriculum.  Cathy Sledge, while teaching English at Caddo Magnet High in 1984, is credited with exclaiming, “In Louisiana, if anything is really important…from cotton and crawfish to peaches and polk salad, we make a festival to celebrate it…let’s create a festival to celebrate the importance of curriculum-based arts programs!”  Within three months of this declaration, the first ArtBreak Festival was produced and held at the Municipal Auditorium and Plaza.  In its 31 year history, the ArtBreak Festivalhas been produced at the Municipal Auditorium, the Convention Hall and “old” festival plaza, the Expo Hall, and the Riverview Convention Hall and Civic Theatre.  In 2007, ArtBreak moved to a new home at the Shreveport Convention Center. 

The Shreveport Regional Arts Council’s Annual ArtBreak Festival is the largest showcase of Student Art programs in the South featuring more than 100 Caddo Parish and private schools, more than 50 hands-on STEAM learning activities, more than 100 school and community performances, more than 4,000 student works of visual and literary art and over $20,000 in cash awards. ArtBreak is the perfect place to add Art to STEM in an effort to show how art and science are better together.

GOALS OF ARTBREAK

Showcase each school’s visual, literary, cultural, performing arts, and creative programs.


Demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of Arts in Education programming that correlates the basic skill STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with Art Disciplines of Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts transforming STEM TO STEAM.

Applaud individual student excellence in the areas of performing, visual and literary arts, as well as culinary, fashion, film and other art forms fostered in the schools and reviewed through a professional juried process.

Teach students to make informed artistic choices through Student Choice Awards, Workshops and Hands-on Arts Activities.

Develop community respect for the positive impact of Arts Education through the promotion of the Arts Curriculum through programs and professional artist demonstrations.

Recognize and promote students’ individual and unique artistic achievements through programs such as the Talent Show, Fashion Show, Culinary Art Competition, Film Prize Jr., and Portfolio Exhibitions.

PUBLIC Festival Dates:
April 8 - 14, 2024

Friday April 12:  5:00 - 9:00 pm
Saturday April 13:  10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Sunday April 14: 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Join us at the Shreveport Convention Center for ArtBreak 2024 as we celebrate Caddo Parish Students’ Artistic Success! ArtBreak is a free, hands-on family event produced by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, and Caddo Parish Public Schools. The ArtBreak Festival provides the entire region the opportunity to witness first-hand the results of quality Fine Arts instruction and Arts in Education programming. Through the combined efforts of school administrators, teachers, artists, our generous sponsors, and hundreds of community volunteers, we continue to grow and provide educational and creative opportunities at ArtBreak.

  1. Over 2,500 original visual and literary artworks created by students in grades K-12-12th!

  2. Over 100 student performances on three stages by Caddo School's performing arts programs.

  3. STEAM hands-on learning activities created by community organizations and professional artists!

  4. The VERY SPECIAL ARTS FESTIVAL is dedicated to serving ALL students with physical and/or mental disabilities with guest artists using their disabilities as abilities to create Art!

Mission:

ArtBreak is an acclaimed, annual event showcasing the arts programs and artistic achievements of students in Caddo Parish and other regional schools. More than 50,000 students, parents, teachers and festival-goers from Northwest Louisiana participate in the week-long arts celebration at the Shreveport Convention Center, making it the largest student arts festival in the southern United States.

ArtBreak features a variety of work from the visual, literary, cultural and performing arts, all of which is produced by K-12 students from Caddo Parishand other regional public and participating private schools. Festival attendees can view more than 100 booths featuring more than 2,500 original visual and literary artworks. In addition, dozens of student performances take place on three stages.

In the past, festivals have showcased performances by popular American Idol and X-Factor contestants as well as blues legend Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The event culminates with $15,000 in savings bonds and prizes, awarded to 100 students by ArtBreak jurors.

ArtBreak is a free, hands-on family event produced by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, and Caddo Parish Schools. 

 

“The level of art that is being produced by Caddo Parish students for the Shreveport Regional Arts Council ArtBreak Festival is something of which the entire region can be proud,”

said Robert Pincus, former art critic for the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune and lead critic for five consecutive years for SRAC’s Critical Mass Exhibition. “Some of the high school winning art entries that I saw when I was in Shreveport recently to critique Critical Ma 5 was on par with art I have critiqued across the country in markets including Dallas, New York and Los Angeles. What a wonderful opportunity SRAC is giving these students through this incredible student art festival,” added Pincus.

 "The work we're doing is really making a difference in the lives of young people."

Henry Price  |  Caddo Schools art curriculum adviser and president of SRAC