This week, the auditorium hall of Staples High School has transformed into a vibrant gallery as the Staples Art Show kicks off. With imagination and creativity on display, Staples students showcased their artistic talent in the hallway for the last two weeks before winter break.
Located outside of the auditorium, the art show featured a bright collection of student artwork from all grades from classes like Graphic Design, Photography, Drawing, Studio Art Foundations, Painting, Printmaking and AP Art and Design. The annual show serves as a way for students and faculty to view the best of Staples students’ work.
Theo Rowen ’27 had his artwork from art teacher Mark Derosas’ Advanced Drawing class on display. In Advanced Drawing the students were exploring how to create figure drawings and still lifes in different mediums.
“The Staples art show is a great way for artists in this school to show other students what they’ve been working on,” Rowen said, “It means a lot to know all the hard work we’ve been putting into these projects is getting appreciated by the rest of the school.”
Students featured in the art show knew coming into the class that their work was going to be on display in the winter. In preparation for the show, the students were able to choose which art pieces they would like to have on display and could add touch ups to pieces that they were not happy with or wanted to add to.
“I love how the art show is an interactive way for students to appreciate each other’s work, and for art students to show the school the work they’ve done over the past few months,” Rowen said.
In other classes, students’ work was showcased under the design element or section of the art style they were learning. For example in Stephanie Sileo’s Graphic Design class, the students played around with symbols that meant something to them or represented themselves. They experimented with Adobe Illustrator to reflect their individuality with their symbols.
In Photography one student spent the semester applying their learning about changing ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed to create beautiful pictures. In AP Art and Design, students experimented with ideas of identity and expression of themselves through different mediums that are not just self portraits. Along with identity, they also played with ideas of memories being portrayed through art as well as peer appropriation and copyright laws on how much an image can be adjusted to comply with the law.
The Staples art show commemorates the pure talent embedded in Staples students and gives them a free space to showcase their best work.
“Creating art that other people can appreciate is one of the best feelings for me, putting a ton of hard work into a piece that I know others will enjoy makes it all worth it.” Rowen said, “ Using your own imagination to create art is something that is greatly appreciated in this school, and I’m happy we have the art show each year to show it.”
