Gina Baer-Witt, Department Head
Michael Mize
Cindy Daniels
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.
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
The WRHS Art Dept recently attended the 31st annual Highland Community College Art Day with the 2011 AP Studio Art students as well as the 2012 AP kids. Art Day consists of a juried art competition, professional artist workshops, and various other art activities designed to challenge and enlighten participating students. The competitive exhibition is designed to recognize artistic talent at the senior high level (grades 9-12). Last year’s Art Day was attended by nearly fifty high schools who exhibited over 1000 works of art. The Art Day experience is an excellent opportunity for students and art educators to view the creative efforts of their contemporaries and colleagues. Art Day always promises to be an enjoyable, exciting, and educational day for all who join in the activities.
This year's Art Day had a steampunk theme, and participants are encouraged to dress for the occasion. WRHS participated in nearly every event and came home with two amazing hand made trophies: 3rd Place in the Art History Competion, and 3rd Place for Overall School. Congrats to the students for their efforts and excellent artwork.
The Blue Print is a huge art exhibit that showcases student artwork that was created throughout the 2009-2010 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 25-29 and will be on display in our fabulous new 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 and Best In Show. In addition two works will be selected for purchase awards and will become part of the WRHS Art Dept. permanent collection. Our panel of judges this year includes:
- Avery Ayers-Berry, art teacher at SHHS
- Chris Arensdorf, WU adjunct professor and former Scholastic judge
- Rose Rodriguez, Local artist and former art teacher
- Richard Rodriguez, Graphic Designer and Kansas City Art Institute Graduate
The exhibit will set up and judged on Friday, April 22nd. 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 25th. Students with blue stars are strongly encouraged to attend the Awards Ceremony Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30pm in the WRHS Library.
The logo for the The Blue Print this year has been selected and is displayed above, it was created by student graphic designer, Jeremy F. Each of the 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 6 nominees. These six logos were shown to all the art classes and the students voted to select the winner. Congratulations Jeremy!
On Friday, Feb. 25th a group of WRHS art students joined Mrs. Baer-Witt and Mr. Mizein attending the WU High School Art Day. Students had the opportunity to take various workshops with Washburn's Art Faculty, visit the Mulvane Art Museum and Art Lab, meet peers from other high schools as well as Washburn students, and display their own artwork in the John R. Adams Gallery. Workshops included Ceramic Olypmics, Dark Room Photography, Cynaotypes, Digital Painting, Mixed Media Sculpture, Felting, Watercolor Painting, and more. Each member of the WU Art faculty is a working and exhibiting artist, and this was a great chance for our WRHS students to work alongside these talented educators.
Students were also invited to bring a couple pieces of their own artwork to participate in a juried exhibition. Two of our students were recognzied in the awards ceremony: K. DuBois took 1st place in the paitning category, and H. Yoo was awarded "Best of Show" for her two drawings. WRHS was also recognized as the "Best Overall School" from those attending!
The art department is mixing things up a bit and changing the format of the annual Art Night Lock-In we've hosted the past couple of years. We are planning on opening up the art department Saturday, Feb. 12th from 10am-7pm for a twelve hour adventure of painting and ceramics. Stephanie Munoz-O'Neil, a local artist and art teacher, plans on doing some demonstrations of her amazing textural painting techniques. All of the artwork is being offered via silent auction the week of February 21st and will culminate Friday, February 25th from 6-8pm in the art department hallway. You can follow the link below to view and/or bid on the available artwork. Prices are listed on all the art as well as a number that will allow you to bid by phone, either by calling or texting. Text messages should include the number of the artwork you are bidding on, the bid amount, and the bidders name. All of the proceeds are going to help fund The Blue Print, our huge end of the year exhibition showcasing student art work from throughout the year.
- Check out some photos of the Artathon!
The Scholastic Art Awards exhibit will be held this year at the Wichita Center for the Arts from January 25th - March 6th. Any art students are eligible to submit work. This year all artwork will be submitted digitally for judging with a $5 entry fee per piece. Only accepted work will need to be delivered to Wichita. For more information and to register you can visit the Wichita Center for the Arts or the Scholastic homepage.
- We had a number of students submit artwork for recognition this year. Check out the results!
Two of our students were recognized this year at the National Level of the Scholastics Competition. This is quite a distinction as only 22 artworks from the state of Kansas received recognition at the national level of the competition:
- See photos from the field trip this year to the Scholastic Awards
- Visit our archive page to see how WRHS students performed at last year's Scholastic Awards.
The
WRHS Art Department is planing their 2nd Annual Cultural Heritage Week on November 8-12. The event was a huge success last year as we explored the cultures of the Middle East and Islam. (See our archive page for more details and photos.) This year we are exited to announce that our focus will be on the cultures of Latin America. We will be hosting another art exhibit in the beautiful new WRHS library featuring Latin American inspired art from a number of the art classes. In addition there will be a variety of guest speakers, cooking demonstrations, dance lessons, and live music from a local Mariachi band! We are super excited about this fun filled week!
As a kick off to Cultural Heritage Week (Nov. 8-12), the Art Dept. is hosting a party to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Nov 1st in room #182 from 3:00-4:30. To commemorate the event, we are having t-shirts printed up featuring a design from one of our art students, Tarryn Ash. The shirts are being printed simply in black ink on a white shirt. We are inviting any students or teachers who are interested to buy a shirt and come join us on Nov. 1st to color and decorate their shirt with a variety of fabric markers. The t-shirts can be pre-ordered for $7 in room #182 or at the bank before Friday, Nov. 22nd. After the 22nd, the price goes up to $10. We are asking anyone who attends the party to please bring a food item in honor of a loved one who has passed on. (For example, if you're grandma makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever, bring some to the party to share and enjoy!)
Click the above graphic to see a special Halloween greeting from all of us in the WRHS Art Dept. Have a safe and fun weekend!
ReThink Topeka is sponsoring a scavenger hunt this weekend, Oct 23rd starting at 11am. Murals have been painted on and around various buildings and alleyways in the NOTO Arts District. Participants must try to find all the paintings and put them in the right order to create Haiku poems inspired by the Noto neighborhood. We had some students and staff on hand Saturday, Oct. 16th to help out with painting some of the mural clues. For more information about the scavenger hunt you can check out the website for ReThink Topeka.
The
Auburn Washburn Foundation and the district art teachers have an
exciting new idea that we are putting into action this September.
We are inviting all of the 6th and 8th grade art students up to
the high school for two days of art making under big top circus tents.
Each of the elementary schools, and the middle school, will be
visiting the high school in two our blocks; one in the morning, one
after lunch. The students will get to create two unique projects.
Under one tent the visiting artists will create one-of-a-kind
jewlery by making wire wrapped stone pendents. The other tent
will allow the young artists a chance to experience the craft of
printmaking by creating three color stryrofoam block prints.
All
of the high school art students will also be on hand to mentor the
young students, stock supplies, sort completed art work, and generally
help ensure the two day art fest is a big success. The Art Geeks
will also be on hand to help supervise and coordinate the event.
Each of the visiting students will get an Art In-Tents colored t-shirt that matches the color of their home school.
All
of the artwork created during this marvelous artapalooza will then be
displayed for three days in the beautiful new WRHS library. The
work will also be auctioned with a suggested donation of $5-10 per
artwork. Parents will have the opportunity to "cash and carry" their
students artwork to ensure it is not snatched up by other eager art
lovers.
If you have any questions, please contact any of the
WRHS art teachers, listed and linked at the top of this page.
Stay tuned for pictures of the event and samples of the completed
artwork that will be available for purchase at the auction.
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