Gina Baer-Witt, Department Head
Michael Mize
Cindy Daniels: District Art Dean
Brad LeDuc
Theresa Shetler Logan
The Art Geek of the Week is a new student recognition program that
celebrates those students that pour their hearts and souls into their
art classes. While these students might be exceptionally talented
artists, that is not a requirement to earn recognition as an Art Geek.
A student's work ethic, attitude, and behavior in the art room are all
characteristics that might garner them the nomination. Currently, all
the Art Geeks receive a t-shirt with the above logo and a weeks worth
of display space in the art hallway and main office. We'd love to have
this program sponsored by a local business which wold allow us funds to
reward these students with some other art related goodies. If you're
interested in sponsorship feel free to contact any of the art teachers.
See a list of all the other Art Geeks from this year.
Below are links to a list of all our Art Geeks from previous years
The Blue Print, which is now in it's fourth year, is a huge art exhibit that showcases student artwork that was created throughout the 2011-2012 school year. Any student that was enrolled in an art class this year is eligible to submit work for possible exhibit in the show. The Blue Print is scheduled this year for April 23-27 and will be on display in the WRHS library. In addition to the opportunity to have their work on public exhibit, the students will have a chance to receive recognition from a number of different award categories. Up for grabs are honorable mention certificates, silver and gold medals, as well as trophies for the Principal's Choice, Purchase Awards, and Best In Show. In addition, there are cash prizes for the Best in Show and the two works selected as purchase awards and will become part of the WRHS Art Dept. permanent collection.
Our panel of judges this year includes:
- Jason Berryman: art teacher at Topeka West High School
- Justin Marable: local artist, co-founder of ReThink Topeka
- Bill Custer: local artist, former art teacher at WRHS
The exhibit will set up on Friday, April 20th, and juried on Monday, April 23rd. Any students winning a award will be notified with a blue star on the name tag of their artwork when the exhibit opens on Monday, April 23rd. Students with blue stars are strongly encouraged to attend the
BLUE PRINT LOGO CHALLENGE!
The logo for the The Blue Print this year has been selected and is displayed above, it was created by student graphic designer, Alyssa Y. Each of the 72 Graphic Design students enrolled this semester were challenged to create a logo for the Blue Print. From these, the Art Dept. Faculty narrowed the results down to 10 finalists. These logos were shown to all the art classes and the students voted to select the winner. Congratulations to Alyssa! In addition to having her logo used for the Blue Print this year, she also received a $25 prize!
BLUE PRINT LINKS
The art department is planning a fun new event as a way to celebrate the coming of Spring. We are getting together with any interested students on Friday, March 16th to decorate shoes with fabric markers. We've noticed a trend of several students doing this on their own and we decided to join in the fun, so we are "kicking off" spring break with a shoe party. Any students or faculty interested in joining us need only show up after school on the 16th with a pair of shoes they wish to decorate. We'll provide all the fabric markers necessary to turn your kicks into a walking work of art! Check back soon for pictures from the event.
View the poster for the event.
We are excited to announce our 4th annual Art Night Lock-In and Auction. On Friday, Feb. 3rd we have 20 of our top art students, plus a few alumni, coming to spend the entire night painting and creating original one-of-a-kind artworks! Each year we've had a guest artist come and share their work and processes, and this year we are happy to welcome Jesse Gray, a Lawrence artist who works in mixed media. Jesse will be sharing his photo transfer process with us and demonstrate some ideas from his own work for the students. All of the work created during the all night event, including two pieces donated by Jesse Gray, will be offered during an exclusive Silent Auction on Friday, February 10th from 7:00-9:00pm in the WRHS Commons. All of the proceeds from the auction benefit The Blue Print, our huge year end art exhibit that showcases student artwork from the entire school year. Please plan on joining us for this exciting event and help support the arts in public school!
View, print, or share a flier advertising the Lock-In and Auction
View and bid on the artwork being auctioned from the Lock-In
(Reopen this Link Frequently as Bids are being updated regularly. Bidding closes at 9pm)
The WRHS Art Department is planing their 3rd Annual Cultural Heritage Week on November 14-18. This event has proven to be a huge success in the previous years as we explored the cultures of the Latin America and before that, the Middle East/Islam. (See our archive pages for more details and photos.) This year we are exited to announce that our focus will be on the cultures of Africa. We will be hosting another huge art exhibit in the beautiful WRHS library featuring African inspired art from a majority of the art classes. We are also excited to see the inclusion of the elementary and middle school art programs this year. Each elementary school and the middle school will be hosting their own African art displays. And a select few students from each school will have their artwork sent up to the high school to be displayed at the main exhibit. As in previous years, there will be a variety of guest speakers, demonstrations, performers sharing and educating us about their African heritage! We are super excited about this fun filled week!
View a schedule of the week's events. Contact Cindy Daniels to sign up for any of the presentations.
See photos of some of the art projects being produced for Cultural Heritage Week
In conjunction with Cultural Heritage Week, the WRHS Art Dept. is hosting an Empty Bowls Chili Feed on Friday November, 18th from 5:00-7:00 in the WRHS Commons. For a freewill donation, participants will not only enjoy a warm bowl of homemade chili, but will also get to select from a wide variety of handmade ceramic bowls. All of the proceeds will be donated to a Hunger Relief Program based in Zambia. Click on the logo above to see the flyer for the event, or visit emptybowls.net to learn more about this international grassroots effort to fight hunger.
The Art Dept. is planning an event to begin to raise awareness for Cultural Heritage Week which will be Nov. 14-18 this year. We have t-shirts printed with a design from one of our printmaking students that we will be getting together to tie dye Thursday, Oct 13th. Any students currently enrolled in an art class are welcome to come join us for the fun. The shirts are $10 and we do ask that anyone joining in on the fun would bring some food item to share. We are studying Africa for Cultural Hertiage Week this year, so if you wanted to bring something inspired by Africa, all the better. We will be getting started at 3:00 in room #182 and hope to wrap up around 5-5:30. Check back soon for pictures of the event, and keep your eyes open in the hallways on "Tie Dye Tuesdays" to see examples of the shirts!
Check out the t-shirt design and veiw a poster for the Tie Dye Party.
View Photos from the Tie Dye Party!
We are excited to announce that the WRHS Art Dept. has won an Arty! This recognition is being bestowed upon us by ARTSConnect of Topeka. This is the first year they are hosting these awards which spotlight and celebrate the creative excellence, exemplary talents and outstanding contributions by our community in selected categories, featuring some of the best in Kansas. The awards honor citizens who have achieved greatness through their creative talents as well as those whose philanthropic generosity has opened doors to artistic opportunity for Kansans of all ages. The ARTYs accent and expose the power of the arts to our children's education, to our state's economy and to our proud and special Kansas culture. For more information about the awards and to see a list of other awardees visit the ARTSConnect website.
Other heartfelt thanks go out to those who nominated us. It is such an honor to be recognized for something we all love doing!
- Check out our ARTY!
- The ARTY awards are beautiful handmade glass trophies created by local artist and teacher Kymm Hughes
- View photos from the award ceremony
