Behold the Art!

Running from May 5 to 31, the student art show hosted works from varying levels of ability. Prominently featured were artworks from students from teacher Corey Wiscomb’s AP Studio Art class — taking up the board directly across from the door and left-hand side — with an array of works from other students lining the right. The Annual Student Art Show, sponsored by A*OK Art for Orcas Kids — a program of the Orcas Island Education Foundation — joins with the Orcas Schools and the Orcas Center to bring a vibrant art show every year.

Each AP Studio Art student was featured in their own section, labelled by a photograph of the artist alongside an artist statement. Students featured included Holden Griskey-Watson, Devon Mann, Emma Heikkinen, Rachel Brewer, and Matia Schwartz.

“I think the sections of art this year was a good choice,” remarks Schwartz. “Last year, everything was mashed together — this really puts the focus on the artists.” Schwartz isn’t alone: other AP Studio Art students have expressed their support of the layout.

On last year’s art show, teacher Wiscomb expressed his view that the art show provides a look into each student’s psyche. Although his comment isn’t new, his perspective on the importance of the art show hasn’t changed. “The art show is different every year, and it shows and reflects how the new student body sees the world — and that’s what’s interesting about art,” said Wiscomb, “You’re looking at the world through someone else’s eyes and seeing how they interpret the environment around them. So every year it’s fresh, because every year we have fresh new eyes, and for some of us, every day, we wake up with fresh new eyes. So art is always new.”

The comment on every year’s fresh new eyes is true: this year, it’s clear that many of the artists’ art styles have changed to fit their new perspectives on the world and evolved to demonstrate their growing talent. Mann, for example, has moved towards painting individual body parts and close-up looks at faces. Why? “It’s my fetish,” she joked. “Okay, okay. I thought it was super interesting examine individual parts of portraits instead of the whole.”