Art stop: North Hills students draw on experience to pursue their passion – Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — Exposing students to local art is what North Hills Christian School art instructor Michelle Allen wants to do through field trips and visiting artists at the school.

She was able to do just that recently when middle and high school art students went on a visit on Feb. 27 and 28, respectively, to explore the WaterWorks Visual Arts Center on East Liberty Street and participate in a hands-on morning art workshop and field trip to West Rowan Home and Garden, now Elsie’s, at Mt Ulla in the afternoon.

In previous years, Alan said, “field trips have never been something I’ve had to organize and lead students because I’ve always done elementary in my 25 years of teaching, which means I’ve taught all the students usually around 600. More small groups allowed me to do that. My favorite collaboration is exposing my kids to art right in our hometown.”

Both recent trips offered students the opportunity to learn about different types of art. At the first stop, they were led by Kathleen Bergeron, who was the docent for the gallery walking tour.

The students participated in the so-called Art Suspension Program, said Ann Scott Clement, executive director of Waterworks. It includes “a docent-led gallery tour with a companion-inspired hands-on activity in the studio.” Half the students stayed for the tour while the other half went upstairs for the workshop and then swapped, allowing them to participate in both.

Bergeron began the tour by introducing the three artists and their exhibits, then led them to the gallery and encouraged them to study the paintings of artist James Keel, whose work deals with environmental issues. After they had a chance to look at and study them, they discussed them while Bergeron gave the students a chance to share what they thought the artist was saying through his works.

She reminded them that “when you look at a work of art, one thing you have to realize, you’re looking at it from the artist’s point of view.”

They then moved to the next gallery to see the photography of Giordano Angeletti.

This exhibit, titled Imaginary Views, she said, was inspired by architecture and landscape. Bergeron pointed out that he took miniature elements and placed them in a full-scale environment.

The final exhibition consisted of various sculptures by Paula Smith. Although there are multiple works on display, the focus was on her torso exhibit, which is titled “Sweet Sixteen.”

Clement said the torsos were inspired by her daughter’s My Size Barbie. “She actually cast the torsos from the life-size Barbie doll.”

And while the shapes may look the same, what makes them different is the “surface treatment and contained objects” in each torso, Smith said in a document describing her exhibit, saying “the girls are not cookie-cutter. They are all individuals.”

Each piece tells a story, Clement said, and “each torso has a title and speaks to its meaning” and can often take on different levels of meaning.

“All three of those guys really know their art, they really know their craft,” Bergeron said. “They’ve been working on it for years.”

After the last exhibit was looked at and discussed, she had them do a “test” that she thought was more like a scavenger hunt. After grabbing their clipboards, they went outside and began searching for the answers.

When asked what she liked or learned, Jasmine Sale, junior, said she liked the Sweet Sixteen exhibit “because it shows a lot of what girls struggle with and deal with in our real world and age.

She specifically mentioned one of the torsos on display that contained a mirror, saying that to her, “it shows that we look at ourselves in the mirror so much because we want to look perfect for someone outside, someone at school and then the measurements, when we go shopping for a prom dress, we need to take the right measurements, such as sizing up or down. “And it can hurt the soul, it can hurt your feelings, because you don’t look like other girls, you’re not the same size as other girls.”

Sophomore Devin Reed Copley said he’s seen a lot during the school year and visited a few different galleries, but “this has to be one of the most diverse I’ve been to, and I think it really helps change your perspective on how God can help you express yourself through it.”

While the one-group tour was taking place, Jackie Black, director of education at the art center, led other students in a workshop as they painted their own version of Smith’s torso sculptures.

Black said she gave the students the option to draw a male or female torso, and it could either be their own or a character they created.

And just like the sculptures in the exhibition, their drawings had to include a place “for something special, something they want to share, something they want people to know, an idea, an ideal, a message to society or just something personal to them and that’s it.” which they put in their container,” Black said.

Students had the option to add color to their drawings with colored pencils or markers or leave them as pencil drawings, she added.

“They’re very nice delicate pencil drawings,” Black said, “and there’s a wide variety of their responses because I told them the torso is the beginning, that’s the beginning. They start there to take the idea and make it their own.”

Two of the students, both freshmen, shared what their drawings meant to them as they worked to complete their torso sketches.

For Livvy Newhouse, a freshman, she said this project was “very self-expressive and meaningful, and other people can express the way they want to, and it gives you a way to let your emotions come out in a creative way.”

Corinna Bivin, also a freshman, said that although the project was supposed to be primarily about Barbie, an image of perfection, “I decided to do something that reflected realistic proportions and was realistic in what it really is.”

She grew up with Barbies and said, “looking at them and then looking at myself, it’s like, ‘oh, should I look like that?'” probably, but I never did. I think we all have to learn to appreciate who we are.’

Part of the excursion included lunch provided by the local Hot Dog Shack on Bell Tower Green, after which they took the opportunity to have their picture taken in front of the historic Salisbury Mural before going to Elsie’s in Mount Ulla. The cost of this project is sponsored by a parent, Allen shared.

While there, Elsie Bennett “shared her expertise and passion and history of making barn quilt squares and designed a barn quilt square for the school,” she said. During their visit, the students helped paint the square, and when it is finished, it will be presented to the administration.

In addition to learning about the community barn quilt and helping to work on a plaza, they enjoyed treats and ice cream from the store, helping support local businesses, which Allen said they love to do.

The scope of this field trip “took the kids from learning about fine art to learning about folk art,” Allen said.

Throughout the school year they also got to see and learn more as they went to Charlotte in November to see the art of glass blowing at Hot Glass Alley and then at the Museum of Illusions.

And they were also exposed to other artwork when Eric Melton, a cartoonist, and Lonnie Cooper, who works with ceramics, visited the students to share and demonstrate their expertise, Allen said.

She shared that they have also participated in several art shows, including one at WaterWorks and another at the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. This exhibit, organized by Sheriff Travis Allen, featured the work of 43 middle and high school art students. Sheriff Allen “hopes in the future it will become countywide.”

Allen said there are “a large number of talented artists who may be able to pursue a career in art. It’s good for them to see what’s out there to help them pursue their passion.”