Advanced Art Students Got Plaza Walls Covered

Advanced art class students are creating temporary murals in the Plaza building based on instructional algorithms created by their peers.

“The art project combines two areas of interest,” Sean Cain, the art teacher said. “The idea that the artist is not necessarily the person who hand-makes the work, and the idea of chance: creating conditions where random factors could determine the final look of the piece.”

The students are excited to have their art showcased.

“We should have student art on the walls,” Walker Guinnee, a senior, said. “So that people who are visiting the school can see what we are doing because a lot of students are doing really cool stuff but don’t get to display it.”

Increasing the size of their artwork has been both challenging and rewarding for the students due to their inexperience working with such large surfaces.

“I’ve never painted on a wall,” Chloë Mathis, a senior, said. “It’s pretty fun even though it can be annoying and challenging and I think it turned out really well, it looks cool and funky.”

Artists were broken up into small groups and then each team came up with a specific instructional algorithm; a set of directions specifically describing a piece of art. Then, the teams exchanged instructions and created artwork based on other group’s ideas.

“It’s all up to chance and not up to choice,” Natalie Price, a junior, said. “It can be frustrating because we want to edit the artwork and have more control over the shapes and colors.”

Nonetheless, the artwork is turning out well according to the artists and succeeding in starting conversation around the school.

“I really want to see this exhibit because of the method they used,” Mary Folberg, Head of School said. “I don’t think there’s anything that beats an artist who has plenty to say and a lot of technique. This is an exercise that really stretches young artists’ minds and skills.”

According to Cain, with the campus spread out the way it is, the individual art disciplines do not get much visibility. He looks forward to transforming the Plaza into a more inviting place.

“We will make the space one that reflects the artistic interests of the school and the students were very interested in being able to increase the scale of their work,” Cain said.

Folberg warns that the student work will only be there for several months while she looks to bring in another professional gallery to display there in the spring.

“The excitement for our kids looking at that artwork and living with that artwork every day was incredible, and putting their work in the same context is great,” Folberg said.

Students agree that this type of work has been both intriguing and inspiring.

“There are a lot of artists that have others do their work,” Ben Green, a sophomore art student said. “So it feels really professional for us.”

Debbie Hutchins, Chief Advancement Officer, said the last gallery has been the largest and most successful art event Northwest Academy has ever held in terms of number of people and donations.

(Additional reporting by Aden Qamar)