Teachers, students and Trustees past and present gathered to celebrate work being done at the District's Visual and Performing Arts Center, signing one of the final beams.
n a sunny day in May, against the backdrop of the half-completed Frisco ISD Visual and Performing Arts Center, students, teachers and leaders gathered to celebrate promise and hope.
Dozens were invited to the VPAC construction site to sign one of the final beams to be placed before work on the facade begins — a “topping-off ceremony” marking this construction milestone a year after groundbreaking.
Trustees past and present, representative fine arts teachers and students, and District administration added their signatures to the beam, smiling for photos and chatting about a day long anticipated, nearly here.
“This project represents a dream coming to fruition for our arts students who have long awaited a place to call home,” Frisco ISD Board President Dynette Davis said. “This center will be a beacon of inspiration, a space where students can express themselves freely, collaborate with peers and showcase their hard work to our FISD community.”
Funding for the Visual and Performing Arts Center was approved by voters in 2018. René Archambault, who was Board president at the time, couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she talked about the long and winding road to completion.
“This center stands for more than just a building — it symbolizes our District’s unwavering commitment to the arts and to the students who thrive within them,” Archambault said. “It reflects our belief that education is not complete without the arts and that every student deserves a stage, a gallery or a canvas to tell their story.”
Next spring when the VPAC opens, as visitors cross the threshold, they’ll walk under the same beam that carries the names of people who made the dream a reality: Several fine arts teachers representing every discipline, plus their students; Instructional Support Team members; and Trustees who championed a facility for students and will see that vision realized.
It’s the work of a thousand people whose legacy will stand at the corner of Legendary and Stockard.
“When we look down the road 50 or 100 years from now, this facility is still here, there are great performances going on,” said Pete Hazzard, managing director of fine arts. “We only get the chance to do this once. Thank you for letting us do this the right way.”
