Arlington High School
Visual Art Show
Semester 1 2020-21
“Home is Where the Art is”
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Welcome everyone to the 2021 AHS Visual Art Show that features the work of all students who were enrolled in first semester visual art courses this year. The exhibit of student artwork also includes works that were part of special events and projects.
The exhibit is organized by visual art course and the art teacher who taught it. We are so proud of the students who stayed productive and creative during these very challenging days of the pandemic. Their written statements included here deepen our understanding of their concerns and feelings.
Visual art continued to be an important way for students to express their personal interests and their feelings about a very wide range of social and political issues.
Student names have been removed from the work to protect their identities.
Special Events and Projects
Semester 1 2020
Mural Initiative: Celebrating Differences
Students Created Mural Designs for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Sponsored by AWG and everyday anti racist group and Inclusion and Diversity Grant and supported by Mrs. McCulloch.
Artists possess a powerful tool to evoke social change. Without uttering a single word, they can enlighten, educate and affect change around the world. Embracing Our Differences invites you to participate in creating a school culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion are embraced and individuality is celebrated. Become a part of this change by submitting your original art to a juried panel that will select a series of designs to become murals on canvas. We seek designs that will create the environment we all want to be a part of.. s
Mural Initiative: Celebrating Differences
Mural Initiative: Celebrating Differences
Winners:
This painting was largely inspired by Oswaldo Guayasamín’s Diversity Hands. The colorful hands are the center of my piece. To help the bright, colorful hands and out and emphasize the theme of diversity, I chose to make the background an array of as many skin tones as I could. The text above the hands is a phrase most commonly recognized from the Beatles’ song, but I think it is relevant to a larger context than that. I used acrylic paint for this painting. A small brush was helpful for the text and the hands but I used a larger brush for most of the background to create visible brush strokes. I chose to use a lot of bright colors because I wanted the painting to be happy and eye-catching, something that celebrates but still has a deep message behind it. It is representing diversity, but more importantly, acceptance and the feeling of being welcome. I hope that Arlington High School can do a better job in the future of creating a warm space for every student, not only in the classroom but socially as well.
This piece is of Harnaam Kaur, a super inspirational motivational speaker. She is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community and has polycystic ovary syndrome, which affects from 5 to 10 percent of people born female, which also results in her ability to grow a full beard naturally. I think it is important to show that this is a very normal thing and that just because someone does not fit society's standards of beauty does not mean that they are not beautiful. I also wanted to use the rainbow colors to bring in the LGBTQ+ aspect to the piece. I wanted to say something about representation in the media and how we portray people. I want to show that being LGBTQ+ is something to be proud of and that it is beautiful. I think that this piece tells the story of people who are often underrepresented. Often, for someone to pay attention to minorities, they must have a tragic past or a heartbreaking story to get any recognition. They have to work harder, be more interesting, or they will often be left behind, where as mediocre cis, white, straight men can be recognized with only have the work. I want to show that marginalized peoples are valuable without being entertaining for the rest of society. Queerness and a woman's facial hair is beautiful on its own. Overall, I am not going to say that this is my favorite piece I have ever made, though I do not know why. I think I was successful in my idea of goal for this painting, and I am proud of my work. To create this work, I first sketched on watercolor paper, then inked over that (I wish the ink showed a bit more in the final product), then I layered watercolor over that. I used a mixture of watercolor and gouache. I title my work “Beautiful as Is.”
“Varsity Art” Logo Design Project:
An annual collaboration between Ms. Rebola’s Studio Art class and local artist, designer, musician, founder and co-owner of Emulsion Printhouse, Dave DiAngelis.
2020 winning design
The Studio Art “Varsity Art” Team / Semester 1
YOUTH BANNER PROJECT 2121
Each year since 2016, teens living or attending school in Arlington have been invited to submit designs for banners. The Youth Banner Initiative encourages development in the visual arts and offers an opportunity for students in grades 6 to 12 to be part of Arlington’s public art programming. Funding is provided by the Gracie James Foundation in memory of Gracie James, a talented Arlington High School student who found solace and joy in the arts. The project is a collaboration between the Arlington Commission on Arts and Culture and the Arlington Public Schools Visual Art Department. Winning
Much of our curriculum focuses on social and emotional learning and helping our students to understand their communities and each other. Each year, secondary students submit designs to this juried competition and twenty designs are selected, printed on large banners, and hung outdoors along Mass Ave. in Arlington Center. The theme for 2021 was PROTEST: LIFTING VOICES. Social, environmental, and economic justice, protection of our earth and its creatures are all possible. These artworks express what matters to these students the most, and illustrate the power of artwork and how artistic voices can advocate for change. The High School winning entries are included in this exhibit. Look for these powerful banners in April and May 2021 along Mass Ave in Arlington Center.
Youth Banner Winners 2021
Youth Banner Winners
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Youth Banner Winners (continued)
Youth Banner Winners (continued)
Youth Banner Winners (continued)
Youth Banner Winners (continued)
Foundations of Studio Art
Mrs. McCulloch
For many students, this visual art course, “Foundation in Studio Art” is the best entry point to all of our studio art courses. This course is designed to increase students’ understanding of the potential of visual art to communicate personal feelings and ideas. A rich variety of media are introduced through projects that emphasize both creativity and skill building. Students study observational and imaginative drawing, painting, printmaking, digital imaging, and sculpture, including working with clay, wire, wood, and other 3D materials. World cultures and the work of both historical and contemporary artists are used to inform and inspire student art making. The course is designed for students who might continue studying visual art in high school but also for students who may not take a course in visual art again.
My artwork is representing BLM, there are four different colored hands that signifies we're all in this together for BLM. It has a background that goes from lighter to darker colors, and the layer on top is a splattered/smeared paint all over the pretty colors, it portrays the chaos that’s going on in the world, and even with the police violence, injustices, racism, etc. we are still with our hands up, standing up and protesting.
An artist I was inspired by was Kelly Reemtsen because her message of women’s roles in society really impacted my idea. This artwork shows a social issue that I feel connected to about the retaliation to women feeling confident in what they wear. I think that people gendering clothes is to take away self-confidence and force misogynistic values. On social media pretty privilege really shows when someone conventionally pretty wears clothing that people gender with the opposite gender to them and everyone tells them they look good. But when someone that doesn’t fit their definition of beauty does it, they laugh at them. On tik tok, a social media video app, there was a video of a boy dancing in a dress and the comments were all complimenting him and telling him how brave he was for doing this. I saw another video of a boy dancing in a dress but he was skinnier and had acne and glasses and the comments were making fun of him. The hypocrisy and pretty privilege stood out so much because the two videos were virtually the same, but just because the second boy didn’t fit peoples standards, he got bullied for no good reason. This helped me come up with my idea for this piece and while the final project is not what I had in mind, I’m proud of it.
My piece is called Audreys Impact. I would like to think this price looks a bit like some of Andy Warhol’s pieces. I really tried to show Audreys personal impact through this piece and what she has done for me personally. I tried to incorporate a lot of vibrancy into this piece to represent the positivity and vibrancy she brought into my own life. This artwork consists of collage and online editing to exaggerate the colors and overall look. I added fabric in the background to express the fashion impact she had and i chose to make her photo very vibrantly colored to show her positive affect she left. I went through a lot of trial and error on whether I was proud of my piece or not. I went through a lot of different ideas and stages of this piece to get it to where I am now. This was definitely a learning experience that I should always make sure I am completely proud of my piece and to make sure to always give my best work.
This piece is a autobiographical look at built up stress, specifically through procrastination. I conveyed this by embracing a rough aesthetic, with slapped together colors, and very loose outer lines. Most of my time was spent getting the proportions of my face correct, and I was lacking in ideas of how the final piece should look. Fitting to the concept, it was only near the completion of the piece I knew what the aesthetic was going to be. I picked a small range of colors, and scribbled where some shading would be, giving the illusion of depth, but also a cartoony colorful yet gritty and scrawled look. The expression and bags under my eyes represent how I feel when tackling schoolwork a lot of the time. A lot of it is so overwhelming that I just put it off and focus on playing games with my friends or other things like that. But doing that only makes what I’m putting off seem increasingly unattainable. My overall thoughts on the piece are that it turned out well, but the lack of a clear direction definitely hurt me.
My artwork is of a girl with her eyes shut and two separate eyes opened and two hands in the air and her head in the clouds. I used paper,colored pencils,pens,and crayons. My idea was about me in school and not paying attention. This piece helped me reach my goal of my autobiography. I learned that i need to pay attention more in school.
My art piece is inspired by my family. Because I chose to do an autobiographical piece, I wanted to show one of the most basic parts of who I am, my family and their history. I wanted to show this through a family tree but in an interesting and different way. Through my piece, I wanted to show not only how many different people make up a family tree, but also how much those people are connected to you and other members of the family. I also wanted the overwhelming emotion and feeling to come with this piece to be love. There is a twinge of sadness because there are so many who are gone, but that doesn’t take away from the love I have for them or them for me.
My artwork is called Confusion and Stress. This is because my life as a kid can be very confusing. I don’t really know what I want to do with my life and it is hard to keep track of all of the things I am told to do. Because of all of these things stacking up it leads to a lot of my stress and frustration. The tools that I used to make this piece are colored pencils, pastel, and collage. One technique I used was sketching out little blocks and spaces where I could collage pieces of paper on to. The person that greatly inspired my art was Jean Michel Basquiat. I really like his work because of how expressive and unique his style is. The personal issue that I am depicting in my piece is how stressed and confused I am for much of my life. My goals for this artwork was to be able to make art to clearly show emotions. I think I reached my goal with this piece because it clearly shows the emotions of confusion and stress that I wanted to show. The final piece is actually exactly how I wanted it to look like. This artwork will influence my future ones because I really enjoy using collage and I want to continue using it in my art.
Painting I &II
Mrs. McCulloch
This studio course is designed for students who want to explore both traditional and contemporary approaches to painting. Portraiture, still life, landscape, abstraction and working from the imagination are possible areas of concentration. Students develop skills in the use of a variety of painting media and techniques including acrylics and watercolor but also learn to use painting as a way to express and develop their own style and their own ideas. Hands-on studio work is supported by presentations of contemporary and historical works, technical demonstrations, class discussions and critiques. Students are encouraged (but not required) to take Painting I and Painting II consecutively.
For my drawing, I wanted to make something relating to mental health and how I personally view it. In the center of the drawing there's a pretty girl dressed with her nice clothes and a bow on her head who is being controlled by the hands reaching at her. In the background I decided to use a continuous pattern of eyes that are looking at her with their dead, blank stare. I used mainly watercolor to color the painting then an ink pen for the lineart to make bolder lines.
The drawing is a representation of how I feel anxiety is like, the hands controlling her and telling her how to act, as well as the hand covering her mouth to prevent her from speaking. The reason why I drew so many eyes is because it feels more intimidating and feel more pressure when you feel like multiple people are watching your every move. I was inspired mostly by he artist Junji Ito as he turns a lot of his beautiful drawings into disturbing imagery which I find really fascinating and cool.
The subject of my piece is myself. It depicts me from a side angle, looking at the bright laptop screen, which is the only light source. Other than myself and the computer, the space is dark. I think the most prevalent element is the lighting and value. The colors are very faded, and it is mostly black and white with slight pigmentations for the skin. The most glaring part might be the lips because they are the most colorful part of the piece. My face is in the top left corner, while the computer screen is in the bottom right corner, which I think gives the piece a nice balance. The emphasis is obviously on the face, but I hope there is a sense of movement from my eyes to the screen. It is primarily made from acrylic paint. I used the glazing technique quite a bit, because I think it produces a better glow effect than if I were to use a lot of paint at once. I did use brush strokes more concentrated with paint in some areas for highlights on the skin and hair though. I think one area of technique I could improve on is the texture and smoothness of the brush strokes. The piece was inspired by a couple of things. The main idea behind it from a thematic perspective was to capture the feeling I and probably a lot of students have since starting online school. For me, I feel like I’m on my laptop for so many hours of the day that it feels like sometimes I’m just in a digital world apart from the physical world around me.
My painting depicts an autumnal landscape scene. In the background, there's two mountains and a grayish, cloudy sky. In the foreground, there is a river. One one side is a grove of vibrant trees and on the other is a tree stump with a throne and table sat upon it. The table has a laptop on it, and the throne a discarded crown. I created this piece with watercolors. I used many washes and layers of color to achieve the look I have made. This piece was inspired by both impressionistic and Japanese styles of painting. The idea behind this painting is that when I'm online for school, I feel like I'm missing out on something beautiful outside and I should be somewhere rather than on the computer inside. I wanted to create this fantastical space outside that I would rather be in. I did this mainly by observing all the incredible colors of the leaves we have now. My goals as an artist for this piece was to use more of the colors I've been afraid of using, lots of bright reds, yellows, and oranges and to try out this method of using lots of small dots that I've been testing out lately. I think I achieved these goals and I'm very happy with how they turned out. My overall thoughts on this painting are very positive, I think that I really focused on making this piece and it played out very well.
This untitled piece depicts a prisoner and a figure who is being shot by a bullet. The background is a more abstract blend of colors and textures. I used pencil to sketch, fineliner (ink) in my second stage, and watercolor and acrylic to add life and color. I used varied techniques to create a more dynamic effect. With a palette knife, I smeared red, black, and white together to create blended streaks. I splattered watercolor and blew it around to mimic the explosive, violent nature of blood in action. I loaded my brush with opaque watercolor and pulled upwards, guiding the eye to the face. I also used water to make the red ink outlining the figure bleed out. The main emotions behind this piece were pain, fear, frustration, and doubt. I was inspired not only by artists like Shawn Coss, who create spooky art that reflects human disorders and feelings, but also musical artists. Takayan is a musician who makes songs about topics that the media doesn’t often express. I wanted to convey a similar kind of visceral pain and despair that he does through his music. A more specific idea behind this piece is the idea that the mind and the body are separate entities. Me and the people I know have expressed the frustration of not being able to fix past actions. There are times when we were too afraid to do something. Although now we only see what we could have done and think “I could have just…” or “Why didn’t I…” The truth is, even though we may have been physically able to do things differently, our minds were in another place. When the mind is imprisoned, the body can’t act.
This piece is called “This is America.” It is comprised of two separate paintings: one of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and the other of facist rioters who stormed the building earlier this month. The first painting is ripped apart and burned to reveal the second painting underneath, representing how these terrorists destroyed the capitol. The painting of the Capitol building was made using watercolor paint on paper. The painting beneath it, of the rioters, is acrylic paint and black pen on watercolor paper. Recently, many pro-Trump protestors stormed Washington, D.C. in an attempt to overthrow the election results, which inspired this work. I was frustrated by both these actions as well as the bipartisan response from the American government. Many Democratic leaders said things like “America is better than this” and “we must all come together,” which I think ignores that the United States is built on racism and oppression, and our longstanding history of unpunished violence against marginalised groups. I wanted to show the difference of how the United States is perceived: strong, democratic, and just, with the way it so often is: violent and hateful. I chose very different color schemes, styles, and even materials to convey this. The second painting was heavily inspired by Nazi propaganda in WWII, to underscore the connections to facist Germany. One of the figures is even wearing a shirt with “6MWE” emblazoned on it - meaning “6 Million (Jews killed in the Holocaust) Wasn’t Enough” - as one of the rioters actually wore. The main protestor is carrying an American flag to show this is the America we have created, and how it will continue to be until long-lasting, large-scale change is implemented.
My painting is titled “Together Alone in March 2020”. My painting is of a living room with the TV on the news talking about Covid-19. The TV and the decaying flower are the two focuses of my painting. I created this piece using acrylics and focusing on dimensions. My piece represents how everyone felt for most of 2020, isolated and losing hope. The flower with its petals falling is a Gardenia, which symbolizes hope. I got the idea from the flower in The Beauty and the Beast. The Beast lives a very isolated life like we all did in 2020. At many times people got lost watching the news and seeing how bad things were in the world with Covid-19 and were losing hope if things would ever go back to “normal”. I made the room dark to reflect how people were feeling sad during this time. The flower and TV are bright to draw the viewer's attention. My goals as an artist were to create a room and setting that everyone could relate to. I feel like I accomplished the mood I wanted the painting to convey, but I feel like the painting is kind of messy and I wanted the corners to be more straight. I also feel like the flower is a little smaller than I had imagined but it works well with the dimensions in the room. Overall I’m happy with how this turned out and feel like I got my feelings across. My next painting will probably have some more color because this one was so dark.
My piece is an abstract type piece with abstract colors and unrealistic face drawings. I made the background of my piece various skin tones, trying to include a huge variety of races to represent the diversity in our community. I then drew on unrealistic faces to represent the individuals. My art is made from acrylic paint and black micron pen ink. My work expresses how as a community we should treat each other the way we want to be treated and as equals. No one should think that they are better than someone else because of their skin color.
The pandemic times have initiated a chronic feeling in me that I cannot make an impact. Maya Angelou's poetry has brought me out of the dust. Every night I read through its sorrows and relish in its beauty, all from my bed. Every one of her words is my home. My piece is composed of three different portraits of maya angelou, on a background of magazine clippings. I made an effort to include photos, words, and poetry that I felt related to both Maya Angelou and current events, connecting her to my modern day life. I used water based markers to color the portraits and acrylic markers to add the details. It was the first time I had used paint markers, so I had a bit of a learning curve at first. In the end, I am satisfied with how my final piece turned out. I hope that when people look at this work, they can clearly see the connection Maya Anglou has to me, and the impact she has made on the world around her, even after her death.
When I thought about my role in our school community when it comes to embracing our differences, I remembered how one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is how to use my voice while not speaking over the voices of people of color. As a white person, I don’t experience racism, and in order to be anti racist, I must listen and educate myself before speaking. In this mural design I used the easily recognizable apple volume logo to represent people’s voices. I named this piece All the Way Up because every square has the volume turned all the way up, showing how no one should have to turn down the volume of their voice, and everyone deserves to be heard at full volume. The logos are all the same size because one color is not louder or more important than the others.
My artwork is colorful, it is divided into 2 sections, one a scene at a protest, the other a classroom. There are 2 main focal points, a woman holding a sign that says black lives matter and a girl raising her hand in class. I used a drawing app on my computer to make this, I first found reference images and then worked off of those. I wanted something I could see being used as a mural and I wanted it to be diverse and representative. It's not how I initially envisioned it but I think it is better for that. I enjoyed this project.
Studio Art
Ms. Rebola
Studio Art is designed to increase students’ independence and confidence in their artmaking. Emphasis is placed on individualized instruction and on the ability of students to make informed decisions about materials and themes. Students study a range of historical periods and contemporary art styles. Students are challenged to use a rich variety of 2D and 3D media to explore complex ideas in visual art. Artwork is regularly shared, critiqued and exhibited and a sketchbook is maintained throughout the year
Students were challenged to design + construct a wearable art object that…
Students researched artists from the Dada movement, particularly Duchamp’s “Readymades”. Their challenge was to construct and/or alter an everyday object, transforming it into a work of art with a new meaning. Tap into the spirit of the Dada movement!
Students learned 5 embroidery stitches and viewed examples of artists who use this medium as a form of contemporary drawing. Their challenge was to
evoke a specific emotion or create a mood utilizing color + line.
Foundations of Studio Art
Ms. Rebola
Students appropriated imagery to create a collage in response to a phrase generated by their own “automatic writing” exercises. Some chose to illustrate their text symbolically, others were more representational. Students utilized juxtaposition and the elements and principles of design in their compositions and material choice.
Students practiced gesture drawing by drawing the people (and pets) in their “bubble”. Several drawings were then selected to become an overlapping composition of figures and patterns.
Storytelling + Color Theory
Students learned about artists Faith Ringgold and Jacob Lawrence, as well as the collection of Quilts of Gee’s Bend. We then used painting exercises to practice with our knowledge of color theory and created swatches of color that later became a narrative collage.
Students learned 5 embroidery stitches and viewed examples of artists who use this medium as a form of contemporary drawing. Their challenge was to
evoke a specific emotion or create a mood utilizing color + line.
Foundations of Studio Art
Mr. Muehleisen
Art and Technology
Mr. Muehleisen
This is a studio class that explores the intersection of contemporary art and technology. Students will be introduced to tools including microcontrollers, robotics, 3D printers, and the laser cutter to create original art that responds to issues relevant to modern culture and their personal experiences. Art and Tech I will focus on both contemporary and historical artists and art forms, tool training, developing skills, and making meaning through art making. Collaborative projects will be encouraged. Art and Technology I and II can be taken consecutively to fulfill the 5-credit Fine Arts Graduation Requirement.
Foundations of Studio Art
Mr. Moore
This course provides an introduction to the Visual Arts for students who have a wide range of experience creating expressive artworks. The curriculum offers a combination of choice-based projects and skill building exercises.
Themes:
Impressions of this year at school
Current events
Contemporary Art
Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Identity
Personal Expressions - Inner Voice
Portfolio Preparation
Mr. Moore
This course is designed for the advanced student who is preparing their portfolio for applications to colleges and the AHS course, AP Studio Art & Design. Students further their understanding of cultures through the study of Art History and Contemporary Art. They learn about how artists observe and create expressive works about the world around them.
Students choose the media most conducive to their choice based projects, which include drawing, painting, sculpture, digital art, photography, graphic design, installations, social media art, and video.
Advanced Portfolio
Mr. Moore
This course is designed for the advanced student who is preparing their portfolio for applications to colleges and the AHS course AP Studio Art & Design. Students further their understanding of cultures through the study of Art History and especially Contemporary Art. They learn about how artists observe and create expressive works about the world around them.
Students choose the media most conducive to their choice based projects, which include drawing, painting, sculpture, digital art, photography, graphic design, installations, social media art, and video
AP Studio Art and Design has three separate components:
Drawing - 2D Design - Sculpture.
This is a college-level course available for college credit and students select one of the three art forms above for their area of concentration. Each area has two main requirements:
The “Sustained Investigation” is the main component of this course and requires a written description of inquiry about a specific personal continuous focus. This is followed by research, and a process of experimentation and revisions in the creation of original artworks, with the goal of creating a body of unified work.
AP Art & Design:
Drawing
Mr. Moore
AP Art & Design:
Design
Mr. Moore
We hope you have enjoyed seeing the works and words of high school student artists in this first semester art show. In June, we will post a second semester exhibit that will feature the artwork of all students who have taken second semester art courses.
To see short videos that explain art course options for next year, please click on this link and scroll to the Visual Art Department.