Parents can be biased when judging their kids’ artwork, and one might be excused for shrugging their shoulders at the flood of superlatives heard at the Evening of the Arts and World Culture Night at the regional high school.
“Wow.” “Fantastic.” “That’s awesome.” “The kids at this school are incredible.”
But in this case, the parents were not only correct in their estimation, they were underselling the artwork. It was that good.
Scholastic Art Awards gold key winner Kristine Hopkins displayed black and white photography portraits of family members, and shots of a boy’s bright smile, a pair of creased hands and scarred knees. Future Rhode Island School of Design student and silver key winner Aaron Teves showcased hand-drafted architectural drawings and a three-dimensional model for a West Coast home sensitive to its hillside environment.
“It plays with the idea of sunlight at different times of the day and it’s got a courtyard,” he said.
Projects weren’t limited to traditional art forms, either. Henry Danielson spray-painted a pair of Vans sneakers, and Tucker Cosgrove designed a skateboard and hollow wood paddleboard.
“I used a computer program to design a shape for the spine and ribs of the board, then I put the rails and deck on,” Tucker said.
Other projects were interdisciplinary. Chemistry teacher Jason Neago had his class of high school juniors make soap, which was on display.
“My students went through a product design process,” Mr. Neago said. “They came up with a concept for their soap and then did prototyping before they made the actual soap. So the whole project combined science, engineering and art. The art piece came in with concept design and the science came in with chemical bonding and the chemical reactions in the actual soap making process.”
The school band and chorus performed at the event and toward the end of the evening in the school’s Coffee House there were solo acts, including a rendition of Rihanna’s Man Down sung by Ivy Bassett. Anyone in attendance might just be disappointed the next time they hear Rihanna on the radio. Ivy was that “awesome.”
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