The honors art program involves juniors and seniors in the Upper School who want to further their artistic talents. The program offers drawing/painting, 3D/sculpture, digital media and photography.
Each year the honors students put together a gallery in the Arts Center to showcase their work. Beginning in the first week of December and running through February, this exhibit features work from all four art departments.
Students from all departments have been working hard to showcase their best work in this gallery. Each piece is personal to the artist and inspired by different aspects of their lives.
Mr. Love’s drawing and painting class allows students to experiment with personal ideas. He encourages students to relate their work to their lives which gives the pieces added depth.
“The artwork I created for the gallery used printmaking strategies and has to do with toxic masculinity and expressing ideas about that,” drawing and painting student Caroline Smith ‘25 said. “Printmaking inspired it and once I started with that I found an idea.”
Mr. Wynias’ photography class also has a sense of creative freedom. Students take pictures all around the GA community as well as outside of class and work in fields that interest them.
“My brother plays ice hockey, so a lot of the time I go to his games and take pictures of him for my mom,” photography student Liv Reynolds ‘25 said. “Which is what inspires a lot of my sports photography.”
Ms. Ritzs sculpture class has projects her classes do each year. This keeps all the work cohesive. But with these projects students put their own twist on the given assignment to make it relevant to their life.
“The piece that I’m working on right now is a clay three-headed dog, Cerberus,” sculpture student Sadie Hess ‘25 said. “ I was inspired to make this because of my English class with Dr. Torrey last year because this is one of the characters in Dante’s Inferno.”
The show also creates community within the art program by bringing everyone’s talents together in the Arts Center. This gallery allows each student to express themselves creatively and showcases a different side of the Upper School.
Along with the students, the art teachers have high hopes for this upcoming gallery.
“For viewers looking at the exhibit, I hope they get a chance to see all the amazing things that young people make here in our art program,” Drawing and Painting teacher Mr. David Love said. “I hope they walk away with a better understanding of what our art is and what it can be.”
“My goal is to create a space where we highlight and celebrate the creative achievements of our Honors Art students,” sculpture teacher Ms. Sara Ritz said. “I also hope that our community finds inspiration in our student’s creative output.”
So much of school is focused on academics and achieving the best grades but art requires using a different side of your brain. Thinking of creative ideas that can reflect you as an artist is a challenge faced by many honors students.
Thinking about a new approach to projects can be difficult. Students often have to test ideas before they find the “perfect” project. In some cases, it’s necessary to turn to teachers to help brainstorm ideas.
Students have been working hard and overcoming these challenges since September to put together this show and there has been a lot of joy found through creating art these past months.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with the clay,” Hess said. “There’s three different kinds of clay on my sculpture and I’ve been able to work with a lot of materials during this project which has been super cool.”
Throughout the process of creating the gallery students grow together and build connections. Being a part of the honors art programs allows students to brainstorm and work together on projects to reach their full potential. Some include paintings, sculptures, action shots, and videos.
“One of the pieces I worked on is the PSA keycard video where we tried to create a comedic piece for people to laugh at,” Digital Media student JT Quinter ‘25 said. “The project was a good experience being able to work with my friends.”
This show takes a community to put together and it wouldn’t be possible without the art teachers’ guidance in helping strengthen the students’ skills.
“I get to challenge them, support them and help them clarify and develop their own vision for what the art-making process can be for them,” Ms. Ritz said. “I can offer ideas, demonstrate techniques, and provide a safe place for risk-taking and experimentation.”
Overall, the honors art gallery is a place to pause and admire the work of the art students. Honors students have put their time and effort into making pieces that bring joy to the community in these past months.
It features artwork from across the Upper School and allows the community to dig deeper into their creative side while looking at it from December through February. Working with art has many ups and downs but is ultimately rewarding in moments like the honors art gallery.
“This show is a celebration of the journey,” Ms. Sara Ritz said.