A Celebration of the Arts
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Celebration of the Arts was amazing on Sunday (April 27), an outstanding display of artistic talent along with delectable cuisine at one of Jesuit's traditional annual events that featured some wonderful new elements for 2025.
For the first time, the Celebration of the Arts performances took place on two stages in front of of the Antinori Center for the Arts. Jesuit's musicians, thespians, singers, and poets all showcased their talents, beginning with the choir (conducted by Adrian Quesada), orchestra (conducted by Nina Wegmann), and band (conducted by Alfonzo Kimbrough). All of these musicians will be performing in the Spring Music Concert inside the Shembekar Auditorium on May 1 at 7:00pm.
Celebration of the Arts also featured poetry readings from The Lyre (moderator John Davis), Jesuit's literary magazine, and several dynamic, encore-inducing selections from the phenomenal "Les Misérables" spring performance by the Jesuit Masque (theatre director Richard Miller), featuring solos by David Miranda '25 and Carlos Lamoutte '25.
Also new for 2025 was the free food, as the delicious fare for A Taste of Jesuit was provided at no cost this year by Sage. The hundreds of guests passed through the delectable buffet featuring Asian, Cuban, German, and BBQ options and returned for more, and then enjoyed dessert from MC Ice.
Inside the Antinori Center for the Arts, the hallways were lined with hundreds of superlative art pieces created by Jesuit students under the direction of fine arts department head Mr. Giovanni Diaz, S.J. and visual arts teacher Matthew Fjelstad. Many of the signature works lining the interior of the Antinori Center were part of spectacular portfolio displays from the numerous students in Jesuit's AP Art classes.
Celebration of the Arts concluded, as it always does, with the Juried Art Show awards presentation inside the Shembekar Auditorium. Congratulations to all of the art show winners, most notably the Best in Show honoree Nick Malatin '25 (pictured below) and Senior Artist 1st place winner Diego Garcia '25.
View below all of the winners from the Juried Arts Show, as well as Art Department award recipients in theatre, music, and digital communications. For photos from Celebration of the Arts/A Taste of Jesuit, go to Jesuit's main Facebook page, Jesuit High School of Tampa.
CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS 2025
VISUAL ARTS AWARDS
Best in Show
Nick Malatin ’25 – “Blvd Hotel”
Seniors
1st – Diego Garcia – “Strangelove”
2nd – Benjamin Smith – “Mouse Maze”
3rd – Jacob Taylor – “Unfinished Portrait”
Honorable Mention
Zachary Tomacruz
Garret Boyes
Peter Serdiuk
Juniors
3rd – Nicodemo Mammola – “Angry Shoe”
2nd – Gunnar Matscherz – Cubist/Still Life Project
1st – Nicodemo Mammola – “Italian Landscape”
Honorable Mention
Alex Meyers
Noah Orenchick
Sophomores
3rd – Luke Wills – “Sushi Fish”
2nd – Brian Branagan – “The Lacrosse Locker”
1st – Joshua Rice – “Chess Pieces”
Honorable Mention
Wesley Garcia
Brady Santo
THEATRE AWARDS
Theatre Production: Gabe Forman '27
Theatre Production Honors: Ian Higgins '26
Intro to Theatre: Andrew Cogburn '28 (spring), Alex Tini '28 (fall)
MUSIC AWARDS
School Choral Award – Emmanuel Chiaku ’27
John Philip Sousa Band Award – Daniel Odio ’25
Best in Orchestra Award – Colin Shembekar ’25 and Daniel Dewey ’25
DIGITAL JOURNALISM AWARD
Jacob Sakre '25