Youth Art Month and Music in Our Schools Month are each celebrated in March, and a citywide art exhibit and musical performances will showcase Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) students’ many talents.

The public can view artwork by VBCPS students in grades 1-12 in the Youth Art Month exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) through April 2. Every VBCPS school is represented in the exhibit which is free to museum visitors.

The division will host a reception at MOCA Monday, March 13, from 5:30-7 p.m. for the Youth Art Month exhibit’s selected student artists, their families and art teachers.

As a culminating event for Music in Our Schools Month, more than 1,300 elementary and middle school students will perform in the Virginia Beach All-City Music Festival at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts March 24-25. The special event includes five separate concerts that are free and open to the public.

The schedule of performances is as follows:

• March 24, 7 p.m. – Elementary Chorus (Dominion group) and Sixth-Grade Middle School Chorus
• March 25, 12:30 p.m. – Elementary Chorus (Colonial group) and Seventh-Grade Middle School Chorus
• March 25, 3 p.m. – Elementary String Orchestra (Arco group) and Sixth-Grade Grade Middle School String Orchestra
• March 25, 5 p.m. – Elementary String Orchestra (Pizzicato group) and Seventh/Eighth-Grade Middle School String Orchestra
• March 25, 7:30 p.m. – Sixth-Grade Middle School Band, Virginia Beach Rising Stars Steel Drum Ensemble and Seventh-Grade Middle School Band

In addition to these citywide events to celebrate the visual and performing arts, individual schools are hosting concerts and performances as well as displaying student artwork. The division’s School Performing and Visual Arts Calendar lists some upcoming events as do individual school calendars found on school websites.