May’s student art show provides perspectives

Throughout the month of May, the student art exhibit, featuring art from all ages under eighteen, was available to the public. Said art show takes place annually; adorned with student artworks ranging from self-portraits from kids to spray-painted skateboards to large collaged paintings full of nails. 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. An opening reception took place on the first of May with a turnout of largely elementary school parents.

Of course, the art show varies every year as new artists pour in with different methods of experiencing the world and portraying their artistic sense. Resident art teacher Corey Wiscomb comments that he feels that the art show truly reflects how each student sees the world. “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.” Wiscomb, having taught art for years, has the knowledge to make such a statement; students and their artwork evolve within his classes.

The exhibit was available during open hours at the Orcas Center. Much of the Orcas population, waiting for Across The Universe to open the doors, has milled about the artworks, commenting on the detail with their friends. Wiscomb comments that “people were totally checking it out during that show, s’cool”. Be cool: students alongside Wiscomb encourage the public to check out the projects they’ve been dedicated to for weeks. Support the student body, and just as importantly, support art that creates a medium for which anyone can express their methods of interpreting the world.