With hanging jellyfish and beautiful artwork, this year’s senior art show, “The Lost City,” was a wonderful place to be in. 

For the past two years, students in IB and AP art have created and prepared select pieces of art to display at the 2022 Senior Art Show. This year’s show included art pieces from twenty-two different artists, all displaying distinct themes. 

Pieces ranged from mythological creatures to things we all experience every day. Senior Rachel Sharp presented an art piece depicting a struggle most people go through—the tedious process of grooming one’s legs. Other artists based their artwork on something they personally have a passion for. For instance, senior Jesalyn Lopez created architectural drawings based on the desire to pursue architecture after high school.  

Many pieces were hung up in a dimly lit room, while others were displayed on folding panels on Main Street. These spaces presented a nice and open space, giving viewers the ability to admire the artwork with groups of friends and family. The artists also crafted jellyfish out of ribbon-like materials, which were hung from the ceiling.

Besides showcasing physical art, some students were also performing art. They played different instruments, including the piano and violin that enhanced the tranquility of the environment. 

The artists also used many different materials to create the pieces. Some used gouache–a very similar substance to watercolor but with a white color, to achieve an opaque look. Others used standard acrylics, fineliner pens, a pencil, and even metal. 

All twenty-two artists worked diligently to put this show together, and even came to school over the weekends. 

“We’ve been working for weeks on this. A lot of us have double periods so it’s usually two or three hours a day, and then we come in on weekends, to you know, set up, put paper on boards, make starfish, set up lights, everything,” said senior Maggie McDermott. 

All the featured artists were enrolled in either an AP or IB art section. Lots of multi-skilled projects are given to students throughout the course, which can be extremely time-consuming. Other art classes are also given as an option for students that aren’t as vigorous, but are typically not featured in art shows. 

“There’s the AP and IB program and we’re all in this together. I’m in the AP program, and usually most students would take that for two years, so junior year and senior year. But I took Advanced Studio Art last year and then transferred into AP Art this year,”said senior Slavena Peychinova.

Both artists also shared the inspiration behind their pieces. 

“Mainly, if I’m being completely honest, it was like what’s in my camera roll. So it was like friends and family. And it was also practicing expressions and my use of color. So that’s just really stuff I wanted to have fun with. I wanted to look back and be proud of what I did,” she said.

“I’m about to graduate high school, so I kind of wanted to, you know, make a celebratory type of closing for these past few years of my youth and stuff,” said Peychinova. 

  “My favorite piece is actually one that I did over the summer. It’s called “Pastel Galaxy”. I think that’s the one where I just did more of what I wanted to do, so it turned out the way I liked best. I also really liked the way the bricks look,” she said.