In late December, the lobby housed a Winter Art Gallery celebrating student creativity courtesy of the Art Department. With paintings, illustrations, and photographs, the exhibit reflected the diverse artistic talents of the student body.
This year’s exhibit was organized by art teachers Antonio Montalvo and Melissa Nakos. According to Mr. Montalvo, the Winter Art Gallery “shows all the hard work that students have been doing so far this year. It’s a setup for the bigger art show that we have in the spring.”
Mr. Montalvo said he remembers from his own experiences how being in a school art gallery can empower young artists. “When I would walk in the hallways and hear people [praise my art], it built up my self-esteem, and it made me realize that I am a pretty decent artist. My hope is that every student feels that sense of empowerment that I felt,” he said.
Freshman Zainab Masoom, currently taking the “Workshop in Artistic Exploration” class, said, “It’s nice to see my developing skills in painting and drawing. Seeing my art in a display in the school [made me] happy about the fact that I improved.”
Sophomore Stella Hwang said, “I get to see different aspects of different people’s point of views on what they decide to take photos on. I think seeing how other people [photograph] from angles, to contrast, to lighting, it is a good way to open your perspective.”
Freshman Yuan Ge said, “I’m inspired because when I look [at the artwork in the gallery], I can improve my own art style based on theirs.”
Mr. Montalvo said the only challenge they have is space: “Space is the only challenge, but it’s the nature of the building. I think that the gym is so large that I’m not sure if I could curate something where I could take up the whole space.”
Currently, the Art department is working on curating an art gallery during the spring semester.
Mr. Montalvo said, “I started a new 3D Design class and I’m the advisor of the Ceramics Club, so I want to display more sculptures and 3D artworks in the shows. I’m also working with students in [my second band art class] towards making a graphic novel that [we hope to] publish there.”
