Hard work. Dedication. Art. Fashion. Dance. Beauty. Energy. Youth. Sustainable reuse of castoff materials. Education. Public education.
Savannahians who appreciate any of those things need to do themselves a favor and plan to attend the 2014 Junk 2 Funk Fashion Show at the Savannah Arts Academy.
As I noted in a post last May, SAA was named the best public high school in Georgia by U.S. News & World Report. I’ve written posted fairly often about the school’s programs and events, including a recap of the Junk 2 Funk Fashion Show in 2011.
The 5th annual Junk 2 Funk packed the John A. Varnedoe Theater at the Savannah Arts Academy three times over the weekend for a multimedia extravaganza created from the combined work of students from a variety of the arts magnet’s programs.
You can learn a lot more at the SAA website and Facebook page. The school’s visual arts department, chaired by Trellis Payne, takes center stage for Junk 2 Funk, but many other departments are also involved. Savannah Magazine was a major sponsor this year.
The fast-paced show employed a theme of “The Seven Seas” and took the audience around the world. An opening dance number with a young tourist couple being accosted by fantasy figures moved seamlessly into the fashion show, which featured the work of 22 student designers who turned unconventional and found materials into clothes, which were modeled boldly by fellow students. As the runway show ended, the dancers returned, only to be followed by recognition of the designers, and then bows from the rest of the cast and crew.
I’ve limited this album to the best of the photographs I took. I wish I had gotten good shots of all the fashions and of all the participants, but I couldn’t and didn’t. I’ll post a bigger album to Facebook sometime in the coming days, but these were the shots that struck me. My apologies to the many students who aren’t pictured here.
And it’s likely pictures of others will turn up elsewhere. Click here for a piece in today’s Savannah Morning News that includes both photos and video. Mangue Banzima has already posted some great backstage photos on his Qui Style in Savannah blog. Photographer Christina M. Bunn has already posted some great shots too. If you see additional links of interest, please add them in the comments if I haven’t added them already.
And now what you were no doubt looking for, a few pics (click for larger versions or open the gallery using CoolIris):
