On Nov. 5 the Broyles Gallery opened with dozens of creations by the Westminster visual arts department. The exhibition featured pieces from Upper School visual arts classes including 3D Design, Drawing and Painting and Digital Imaging. For many students, this show was their only formal exhibition of the year, so classes focused their efforts on producing pieces for the gallery.
One aspect of staying in Westminster’s arts programs for several years is the cumulative experience built through ongoing work, according to visual arts department chair Ben Steele. This process shows how students evolve during their time in the program and how earlier pieces inform more intricate work with deeper meaning.
Steele teaches Photography 1, portfolio classes, Drawing and Painting and Digital Imaging. In his 2D Digital Imaging Portfolio class, students were asked to take a past photograph, create variations and then photograph the final piece.
“It’s kind of like a way of reimagining a previous image in multiple different ways,” said Steele. “They are figuring out how to do studio photography.”
While upperclassmen experimented with expanding their previous work, beginner classes learned how to use new materials and discovered the fundamentals of allowing instinct and imagination to guide their process. From the large vessels made in Ceramics 1 to the alphabet project in Photography 1, art depends on individual interpretation, so no two ideas will be alike. Students also explored the freedom to construct pieces in whatever direction their vision led.
“I wanted to create a piece that was conveying the contrast between complexity and surface level understanding,” said senior Gabi Latz, a student in AP 3D Design, describing the meaning behind her piece. The door she created drew attention with its contrasting colors and height. Its texture and layering led some observers to wonder about the deeper significance, prompting Latz to explain that the material on one side represented complexity as there were multiple layers.
The Ceramics 1 class, taught by Jen Marie Wentzel, worked on a project that involved building a large vessel and incorporating an element of students’ personal lives into the design. The assignment taught new art students how to express themselves through their work.
“The large vessels are about building on a different scale and then actually capturing action,” said Wentzel, who teaches 3D Portfolio, Ceramics and AP 3D. “Some of them brought in their softball bats or their soccer cleats or their dog’s collar and used that to create texture,” she said. “And they actually hit their piece.”
The gallery displayed styles that varied widely, highlighting that no two pieces are alike. Several classes also present work around Hawkins, so look for these pieces next time you are in the building.
Edited by Oliver Chen
