farragutpress

Shared Visions

Art show, soup fundraiser make Fine Arts extravaganza

April 22, 2026 by Jake Nichols

The comforting smell of soup wafted on a late spring breeze, blending with the initial notes of the Farragut Middle School orchestra’s rendition of, “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.”

The sounds and smells provided a fitting escort into The Commons at Farragut High School, where the Shared

Visions Art Show and the Empty Bowls initiative joined forces with FMS orchestra and Farragut High School jazz band on Thursday, April 9.

The cornucopia of fine arts activities weaved together for the third consecutive year, drawing quite a crowd as visitors filtered in through the sun-dappled glass.

The Empty Bowls aspect featured soup dinners — with choices of potato, chicken and rice or broccoli and cheese — which were available with a drink, bread and dessert for just $15 per meal. Any meal purchase went toward FISH Hospitality Pantries, whose representative noted that just one $5 donation provides 20 pounds of food. So each $15 meal would feed three families, continuing a fundraising tradition that has dated back several years at FHS.

Last year alone, the fundraiser brought in $4,700, which fed 940 families.

But it also reinforced a sense of community, as FHS students worked the event.

“It teaches them a lot of life lessons that they can carry with them,” FHS Visual Arts teacher Angela McCarter said. “The Empty Bowls event is completely run by the students. They are the servers, ticket sellers, and they made the bowls. To have them understand how they can work together to achieve a common goal is an important lesson.”

The art show portion featured a similar lesson with work from all four Farragut schools — Farragut Primary, Farragut Intermediate School, Farragut Middle School and Farragut High School.

First, second and third-place winners were announced for each school, as were 10 Honorable Mention candidates.

Junior Ella Reese was awarded “Best of Show” for a monoprint of tools done in pastels.

For Farragut High School’s 2-D winners, first place went to sophomore Kaylen Sandridge with Reese claiming second place and senior Madison Romer earning third place. In the 3-D category, freshman Evelyn Hardy earned first place with senior Julianne Hao in second place and junior Eric Smith in third.

Farragut Middle School winners included seventh-grader Lily Kitts in first place, sixth-grader Phoebe Nguyen in second place and eighth-grader Alisha Azad in third place. For Farragut Intermediate, first place went to fourth-grader Ayesha Dutta with fifth-grader Zoia Iushutina claiming second place. Third-grader Archer Dennis was awarded third place.

Farragut Primary School featured second-grader Elora Zakhary in first place, first-grader William Riffert in second place and second-grader Johnny Hu in third place.

As the FMS orchestra moved into the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” people milled around to look at the wide variety of work on display.

Some of the notable honorees included a birthday cake, a pastel drawing of a spiky-haired cat in sunglasses and a cardboard jellyfish. There was even a large bear — nicknamed “Robin Sherbeartsky” as a nod to “How I Met Your Mother” — comprised of ripped-up cardboard.

For award winners and other participants, McCarter noted she wants the experience and the freedom of artwork to leave a lasting impression.

“With Fine Arts, it’s hard sometimes because other academic fields or career-oriented classes push kids to know what they want to do when they’re in ninth grade,” McCarter said. “So having the freedom to do art classes is really important to make them better human beings. This is a great experience for them.”