A Look Into Art 2

A behind the scenes glance at students working on drawing, painting, sculpting, and ceramics

Peyton Hedges, Editor
May 30, 2018

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As the school year comes to a close, La Salle’s Art 2 class is still hard at work. These advanced art students are each creating unique pieces of art to add to the portfolios they have been putting together throughout the year. 

“These kids have shown a really high skill set in drawing skills, but also in concept development,” said Ms. Cha. “There’s not a person in that room who isn’t going to pull off a beautiful portfolio, and if they have interest to go to college for art they will be set for that as well; they’ve been amazing.”

Ms. Cha has significantly expanded the art program during her short time teaching at La Salle, adding new mediums to the art classes such as ceramics, textile work, and she recently received a grant to add photography to the curriculum next school year.

“I don’t like for my artists to get bored, and when you’re 17 or 16 you might not know what you want to do yet,” said Ms. Cha. “I try to get people going in that early so that they know what they like.”

Here’s a look at a day in Ms. Cha’s Art 2 class, with several students speaking about their experience in the class and what they’re currently working on:

“I wanted to challenge the stereotype of a big man saving a woman, and I wanted to do two girls with one saving the other,” said sophomore Brook Wycoff. “[Art] definitely allows you to express yourself and some people aren’t good at talking with other people but art is their one outlet.”
“I’m working on a skull that is surrounded by flowers, basically symbolizing life after death and how there’s rebirth after death and that it’s a continuous cycle,” said junior Ana Martinez. “I think [art is] very relaxing and it’s a part of my life that keeps me sane. I think it just inspires me to do more and focus on the bigger picture.”
“I’m the first sculpture kid in La Salle history because we have never had a studio to work in,” said senior Carson LeMaire. “We were supposed to do a project that we thought related to a more personal issue and I chose gun violence in schools and especially in America, so I wanted to do my interpretation of enough is enough.”
“This is a map of Arizona with the border of Mexico in it. This text is the The Tohono O’odham creation story of their nation, and there is a picture of a tribal member and I’m drawing her on the map,” said junior Emma Sheets. “After the Arizona immersion, learning that they live on the border and that their land is split into two was kind of crazy, and I wanted to do something to give them a voice because I had never even heard that before.”
“I’m doing printmaking, and for the past few weeks I’ve been cutting out linoleum blocks. They were just slabs that I cut into and had to draw out first,” said junior Braeden Eggen. “Each of the blocks that I made have a different message behind the heart and I wanted to show it behind the printmaking process because I thought it was pretty cool.”
“I’m working on a graphite drawing and I like to put thread in afterwards, so i want to do thread connected to the fingers,” said sophomore Annie Hoang. “I think that art is just whatever comes from your mind or whatever you’re feeling.”
“I’m working on a portrait of my sister as a child, and I’m doing it in a style with color for the shadows instead of skin color. I was inspired by this artist named Piet van den Boog who does really cool paintings that have color in the shadows and I really liked it,” said junior Brigid Hanley. “I find I really like to draw my family’s faces.”
“I’m making a present for my mom, I’m making a planter, and I’m going to put designs and flowers all around it,” said senior Hope Jones.
“I’m passionate about [art] because I think it’s relaxing and is a good creative outlet,” said junior Carolina Stahly Dronkowski. “I’m working an an independent project which is a collage, and it’s incorporating the idea of female bodies and how we’re impacted by advertisements and images.”