Creative Streak: Students Excel in School's Growing Art
Program
By MAX HART
In 1991, students enrolled in one of the few art classes taught at
the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School had only one place to
go.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/03/24/content/alex_hayley_sm.jpg" It was a small room just up from the cafeteria, consisting of a
dozen tables and some art supplies. A closet doubled as a darkroom,
although photography was only taught as an independent study then. At
any point throughout the day you might find the school's only art
teacher, Paul Brissette, helping students with their projects.
Fifteen years later, you can still find Mr. Brissette roaming the
halls of the high school, but any similarities with the old art
department end there.
Once contained to that single room inside the middle of the school,
the visual art department has expanded into a four-classroom wing at the
far end of the building, a fitting symbol for a program that has
blossomed into one of the school's most popular electives and,
along the way, became a model for public schools everywhere.
"It is certainly one of the best public art programs in the
state in terms of quality of teaching, quality of courses and number of
students that continue on to further education in art," says high
school principal Margaret (Peg) Regan. "Students here are exposed
to the latest technology while always being encouraged to think in new
ways. And I think that is a reflection of our community and its
commitment to the arts. We are unusually supported in that
regard."
"When I came here in 1979, there was a class called
art," Mr. Brissette says with a laugh. "We have been really
fortunate to grow into what we can offer today, and a lot of that has to
do with the way technology has evolved over the years."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/03/24/content/meredith_curtis_sm.jpg" Indeed, students today can choose from a range of visual arts
classes in four disciplines: crafts and sculpture, drawing and painting,
photo/graphics and 3D/architectural design. There are four full-time
teachers, and where once there was an empty darkroom, four classes are
now dedicated to photography and graphics.
It is no wonder more than half of the 849 students take an elective
art class during their four years. And more than ever, Vineyard high
school visual art students are being recognized for their talent.
Student photography shows have popped up at Featherstone Center for the
Arts and last month, 12 Vineyard students were honored with The Boston
Globe Scholastic Art Awards; six won the prestigious Gold Key, the
competition's highest honor. Four of those Gold Key winners
- Marshall Pratt, Ben Sweet, Niko Ewing and Andrew Valenti -
are now entered in a national competition for their photography
portfolios.
The recognition goes beyond awards, too. This year, 17 seniors have
been accepted into some of the top art school programs around the
country, including Savannah College of Art and Design, Rhode Island
School of Design, Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts
in New York city. It is the largest class of Vineyard students heading
to art school.
"It used to be one or two a year, and then as the department
expanded, that number grew to about four or five," says Mr.
Brissette, who has been the chairman of the department for more than 25
years. "To have 17 get in is a really high number, but it is also
indicative of the talent within the community as well as in this
class."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/03/24/content/drew_chris_baer_sm.jpg"Mr. Valenti falls into that category.
Along with winning a Gold Key for his photography portfolio, the
senior from Edgartown is excelling in his other art classes. And with
most of his core requirements completed, he is spending the vast
majority of his final year in the art wing.
"Now that I am a senior, I am pretty much doing whatever
projects I want to do, and the school is always very open to that and
very supportive," he says on a recent morning from Janice
Frame's advanced drawing and painting class. "I can focus on
what other interests."
On this morning, he is putting the finishing touches on his
pointillism project. With uncanny precision, he is recreating a photo of
himself laughing. An almost perfect rendering of the senior's
profile, consisting of thousands of tiny dots, emerges on the paper.
Next door in the crafts and sculpture room, senior Meredith Curtis
sits at a potter's wheel, shaving strands of clay from a nearly
completed vase spinning in her hands. Her teacher, Scott Campbell,
stands by with a few tips on how to level the base. One of Mr.
Campbell's more talented students, Ms. Curtis says she loves
pottery but is going to follow a career in international economics.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/03/24/content/mackenty_sm.jpg" Just down the hall, Chris Baer is teaching his beginning photography
class. Freshman Alex Laflamme is taking a portrait of her classmate,
Hayley Panek. Senior Marshall Pratt, another Gold Key winner, is only a
few feet away, cutting a mat for one of his black and white prints.
One of the more recent changes in the department has been the
introduction of technology-based classes.
While on sabbatical in the mid-1990's, Mr. Brissette surveyed
dozens of businesses to find out what skills they would want students to
learn in the coming years. Not surprisingly, their answers all related
to computers and software.
"A big catalyst was the shift in technology," Mr.
Brissette says. "In about five years, everything changed in terms
of what people were using and what people were teaching. All of a sudden
software was being integrated into classes. It was a situation where we
had to modernize or be left behind."
Nowhere is the integration of technology and art more apparent than
in photography, where digital cameras and computers have changed the way
we take and look at images. Now, Mr. Baer teaches one of his photography
classes using only digital cameras.
"The thing about digital cameras is that the kids are now able
to take tens of thousands of photographs a year, and that is a huge
factor in being able to develop compositional skills," Mr. Baer
says. "By being able to see their shots instantly, kids have
gotten better at recognizing a great photograph. It is amazing how much
better the quality of work has gotten."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/03/24/content/marshall_pratt_sm.jpg" The interest in photography has become so strong that Mr. Baer and
his wife, Janice, have begun a number of extracurricular and after
school activities for students.
Twice a week, Mrs. Baer takes group of students around the Island to
shoot pictures. One group assists in a photography project at the
Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center while the other drives
around looking for unorthodox Vineyard scenes. The latter students will
present their work at an exhibition called Forgotten Postcards of
Martha's Vineyard at Featherstone beginning on April 1.
"I have always felt that kids want to come to school for
sports, clubs and the arts," Mr. Brissette says. "They know
they will have the academics, but it is the extracurricular things that
keep them really engaged. Art provides that release for them, whether it
is painting, singing or theatre."
"Art is the antidote to academics," Mr. Baer adds.
"Most kids need to express themselves creatively, and this is one
of the places they can do that. Fortunately, they have a supportive
community that encourages them to do that."
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