Every year, we hold a contest to give away tickets to Arizona’s Renaissance Festival that comes around each spring.
And each year, our students send in some pretty awesome artwork, poetry, stories, costumes, really just about anything. This year certainly did not fail.
Check out the artwork and written work we received from our Primavera Panthers this year.
Renaissance artwork as portrayed by Primavera students
Milana V., 12th grade
“I chose to draw this because I love fashion history and historical design and I had been making some dress design, saw the posting, and went why not? It sounds really fun and I just love surrounding myself in history. I feel closer to people and the human experience.”
Moriah B., 12th grade
“This is my colorful recreation of Raphael’s angels.”
Delaina R., 9th grade
“I wasn’t sure what to do for this until I thought about the Renaissance Art era and decided that instead of going for something traditional, why not draw not only a real person but an artist from the era.”
Renaissance writings as from Primavera students
Below are a poem and a short story written by Primavera students.
The Renaissance Festival by Frankie E.
Huzzah… Huzzah the festival is here,
As we bow down to the king and queen as they appear.
The king announced to have a blessed day,
And to enjoy the feast and dance and play.
The music starts oh so heavenly good, and the feast is so delicious you should try it, you should.
The knight in their armor all shiny and daring while waiting for a dragon come out to be scary.
The fairies come out all twinkle with glee, and play their flutes and laugh and sing.
The festival lasts all thru the night and watch the glow of the shining moonlight.
Alas, the night is finally thru and to all of you goodnight and tomorrow to you.
The Black Plague by Kayla T.
Oh, the renaissance, a period in European time between the 14th and the 17th centuries back when there was a surge of deep interest in art and literature. You may have heard many stories from that era. There is one story you have not heard of. This is a story of a man who wanted more power due to his greed. There are so many reasons why this particular tale has been pushed under the rug, it is said to bring misfortune, bad luck, and even the black plague back from the dead.
Once there was a man who was fabulously wealthy named Bucephalus, he had everything from cinnamon to gold. Bucephalus even owned a gold mine, but one day one of his workers struck gold. As soon as Bucephalus heard about this, he jumped on his horse and rushed to the site. Instead, he saw a black shiny skull that was made of igneous inside of a wooden box with melted candle wax.
“This is nothing, get back to work you fools!”
As Bucephalus was walking to his horse one of the workers called after him, “But sir, that’s a cursed object. I don’t think we should be moving it.”
“Very well then I shall take it back with me for my collection of exotics.” Bucephalus walked back to the skull and opened the box then he stowed it upon his horse. “Cursed! We shall see.” He laughed while riding away.
Once he had gotten home, he started to feel strange as if a headache was coming on. So, he went to lay down in his silk sheets. Over some time since Bucephalus has taken the igneous skull, he has become rather strange. He became greedier and more tempered than he usual. Even his body went through change itself, he looked very skeletal his eyes were as black as the igneous skull. His workers became terrified of him as well as the townsfolk. He had a special eye for bugs suddenly too. He would bring the skull everywhere he went like it was a pet. He would always attract fleas too; fleas were his favorite type of bug. As the relationship with the skull grew the more evil, so too he would become.
Bucephalus wanted to go to the jousting festival, but he had a rather estranged plan. He was planning on setting his fleas free amongst the jousting festival to infect everyone and anyone. Within weeks when he set free his fleas, he noticed all the townsfolk getting fevers, headaches and even feeling itchy. He knew he had gained power and thought he was indestructible, but a week later he had fell to his own evil plans. People say that he was the cause of the black plague and you can still see him lurking around holding the black skull spreading darkness in London.