The Byram Hills Fine Arts Department is celebrating notable achievements in music and art this spring.
The Byram Hills Central School District was honored with the Best Communities for Music Education Award from the NAMM Foundation. The award honors districts for leadership in advancing music education and expanding equitable access for all students.
“We’re thrilled to be recognized for all of the wonderful music opportunities available to our students throughout the District and Byram Hills’ deep commitment to the performing arts,” Director of Fine Arts Marc Beja said.
The District went through a comprehensive application and review process and was evaluated on District support, instructional time, participation rates, facilities and community support. The foundation is the charitable arm of the National Association of Music Merchants, the global trade association for the music products industry.
Byram Hills High School junior Adley Aronsky was named a New York City finalist in Junk Kouture, an international fashion design competition that allows only recycled materials.
Her work, “Warrior Artist,” will be featured in the Junk Kouture Festival of Finals 2026, a live event on the Junk Kouture YouTube Channel on May 20. It will showcase the work of city finalists from New York, Paris, Dubai, Milan, and London and will end with designers being selected to advance to the Junk Kouture World Final.
Adley created her design in Fashion Design I, the new 3D art class at Byram Hills. For her ensemble, she sewed a corset top and skirt from an old curtain, added tiers of used paintbrushes to the skirt and dried paint blobs and the word “ART” to the top, a look that represents the fight against conformity and excessive waste.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity of having my dress included in the wider Junk Kouture community," she said. "I am very proud of the hard work I’ve put in, and I’m excited to see if it can take me even further in the future! I loved looking at all the other finalists’ designs - everyone is very talented and creative.”
The work of 10 student-artists at Byram Hills High School was selected for the Young Artists show at the Katonah Museum of Art.
The students are seniors Spencer Berkowitz, Sarah Bogart, Rylie Casler, Matt Geller, Eva Gross, Joy Jiang, Tori McWilliams, Julia Miller, Angelina Nie and Alexa Vargas. Their work includes ceramics, digital illustration and digital photography, drawing and painting.
Being in the show is an immersive experience for students, who collaborate with museum officials and art educators and take on the roles of curator, designer, installer, graphic designer and artist to help plan and produce the show.
The exhibit, which runs from May 3 through May 24, features more than 350 pieces from students at 40 high schools in New York and Connecticut.
