Spring Art Show Demonstrates the Power of Patience

As the school year came to a close, visual arts students had one final opportunity to show off the results of their creativity, passion, and hard work in the Spring Art Show. While the Landau Gallery was filled with incredible works in pottery, drawing, painting, photography, and woodworking, Visual Arts Chair Dan Duarte was most impressed by the commitment required from each student to reach that finished product.

“I'd say you get a wide breadth of interests in the student body and while some kids bring prior experience to their classes, students are for the most part working in a given arts medium for the first time,” Mr. Duarte said. “This requires some patience on their part and a willingness to be okay with not being great at something. Our students are overall pretty accomplished. The art of struggling is not something they are used to.”

Over the course of the school year, the Arts Department encouraged students to persevere through any initial challenges and trust the process. At each phase of the work, the end goal remained creating art they would be proud of and happy to share with their friends and families. While every visual arts student finished the year with work to take home, Mr. Duarte believes the boys come away with something even greater than what they produced in their classes.

“Even though many of the students will not continue on to a life as an artist, there are numerous parallels between the process of art making and lessons that will benefit them while working in college, navigating personalities and relationships in a working environment, and ultimately, a set of strong life skills that will benefit them in the first steps of their professional career.”