Article submitted by Diana Bolander, Rahr-West Art Museum Assistant Director/Curator for the RWAM Public Art Committee’s Art Forward Series.
This year’s Big Eat High School Art exhibit at the Rahr-West Art Museum features the work of high school students from Cedar Grove-Belgium, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, Hilbert, Howards Grove, Kohler, Manitowoc Lutheran, Mishicot, Oostburg, Ozaukee, Random Lake, Reedsville, Sheboygan County Christian, Sheboygan Lutheran and St. Mary Catholic High Schools. We checked in with exhibit coordinator Laura Adameak of Sheboygan Lutheran High School and three of her top students to learn more about their art classes and experiences.
Laura Adameak, Art Teacher at Sheboygan Lutheran High School
How long have you been teaching art? How has your perspective on art changed from when you first started teaching to now? How is your teaching different? How is your own personal work different?
I’ve been teaching art for 23 years. I don’t think my philosophy has changed. I believe that anyone is capable of creating art. I believe creativity is something God has bestowed in each individual, as we are created in His image. I explain it to my students by saying, “you don’t take Chemistry because you already know how to do it, Art class is the same – you take it to learn more and gain skills.” My teaching is different today because I try to focus more on the joy of creating something in the classroom. It’s a community, we learn from and celebrate the God-given gifts each student possesses. The ultimate goal for me is for a student to feel proud of the artwork they’ve created.
What about your students are you most proud of this year and why?
I’m most proud of my students for taking risks, persevering through challenges, being vulnerable, and contributing to the classroom community of loving and serving each other.
What kind of prompts or assignments do you think your students respond to or engage with the most? Why do you think they are successful?
I think any assignment that explores their identity is engaging. At this age, students are trying to figure out where they fit in this world as an individual. I also find that students are engaged in projects where they are exposed to new media and processes they haven’t been exposed to before.
Why do you think it is important to include art in the high school curriculum? How does it prepare students for their lives?
I believe every student deserves an area where they can shine. Art is another area where students are able to display their talents.
I believe that art develops skills in students that can’t be “taught.” Skills like problem solving, flexibility, and perseverance. Students learn to slow down and that it’s okay to make mistakes. Sometimes your idea doesn’t turn out.
Art also gives students a voice they didn’t know they had. It helps them make sense of a world that can be chaotic and confusing. Art develops appreciation for others and the diversity of perspectives. It’s not just a single “right” answer to a problem, but a varying array of ideas that answer the problem.
Amara Feile, “Overtime,” air dry clay and found objects, Grade 11, Sheboygan Lutheran High School, Teacher – Laura Adameak
Amara Feile, Grade 11
Why do you choose to take art class as an elective?
Because there is nothing else I would rather do.
What is your favorite thing to make, your favorite tool, or favorite media to work with and why?
I can never stick to one medium as I really enjoy trying different things, but in all my pieces you can see that I combine different forms and techniques I discovered when using other materials. Currently, I can’t get enough of making things. I love making items out of trash I find in my room and find that it challenges my ingenuity and gets me to clean my room. Making something physical that I can hold and manipulate out of nothing blows my mind.
What is the story or background to the piece you have in this show? What was special about making it?
My project called Overtime was actually my first (finished) sculpture project and I love how it turned out. However, like most of my pieces, the finished product was nothing like I initially planned. I wanted to make dozens of tiny skeleton people but clearly the first one I made was not tiny at all. I’m showing people that a cubicle at a workplace is not very different from desks at a school. When my brother found the wire armature, he joked that the hunchback looked like my posture when doing homework. One of my greatest fears is that I will have severe back pain because I spend about half my time crouched over a desk. This piece attempts to satirize that fear.
How do you feel when other people look at your work?
I enjoy when other people appreciate my work, though I don’t like it when people say they didn’t get the same message out of my work I had in mind when making it. Every piece of art invokes a different feeling in every person, that doesn’t make one wrong or right. I want people to look at my art and think of it in their own way instead of trying to figure out what I was thinking when I made it.
What are you going to make next?
I have decided to take a small break from starting new projects to work on the numerous unfinished ones I shoved into corners of my room. For my next large project. I hope to do over summer, I want to make a model of a dilapidated carnival or circus. The history involved with circuses including PETA accusations of animal abuse adds a somber aspect to an otherwise peppy atmosphere.
McKenna Stoelb, “Drip”, charcoal grade 12, Sheboygan Lutheran High School, Teacher Laura Adameak
McKenna Stoelb, Grade 12
Why do you choose to take art class as an elective?
Art has always been a hobby of mine. I always doodled on my homework assignments and things like that and would draw my favorite cartoon characters like every little kid does. My parents gave me a ton of encouragement to keep drawing, and my friends loved seeing my newest doodle. I didn’t enjoy art class much in middle school because there wasn’t a lot of freedom in what I could do so I mainly taught myself at home. I secretly loved the attention I got when everyone was like “wow Mckenna, how do you do that?!” but felt like I was kind of being held back because we didn’t have a lot of freedom in what mediums or pieces we could do. In high school I decided to take art to gain some of that guided freedom. I wanted to branch out and really explore this artistic ability I had, but I didn’t want to be completely on my own. I wanted to learn more techniques and styles, be given prompts, guidelines, but not be told exactly what to draw, which is exactly what I got.
What is your favorite thing to make, your favorite tool, or favorite media to work with and why?
I love colored pencils. I feel like I have a lot more control than I do with paints, chalks, etc., and can get a lot of details when using them. Recently I’ve tried to get better at paints and markers, but colored pencils are still my favorite, specifically on toned paper. I like them because of the fine tips, multiple colors, and waxy feel that I can scrape off with a knife for finer details. I also really like being able to build up the colors, something I struggle to do with paints and markers.
What is the story or background to the piece you have in this show? What was special about making it?
Honestly, this piece was just me experimenting. I was trying to put together an art portfolio and obviously wanted to show different media. I haven’t used black paper since freshman year so I wanted to use that to practice charcoal pencils: I experimented adding chalk to the mix to give it a little bit more depth than I could with just white, but with it still being subtle. I wanted to try and make the hummingbird look kind of ghost-like, and have her drinking water to show the hummingbird in a more natural state than just floating there.
How do you feel when other people look at your work?
I used to love it when people commented on my work, now I appreciate it but also have an awkward feeling. I love that someone took the time to look at my work and enjoy the compliments, but it feels awkward when people start saying how they could never do anything like what I’ve done. I don’t like when other people bring themselves down to give me a compliment. I’ve been practicing for years, you could draw an eye if you practiced that long too. There are people much better than me who have practiced for longer, too.
What are you going to make next?
I’m currently working on a mural at my school, so that is my current project. It’s a mural showcasing Alice in Wonderland. Once that is done, my plan is to recreate a painting my grandma has that has since faded into almost nothing. I’m going to (hopefully) paint a replica for her. I also have oil paints that I got for Christmas that I want to experiment with.
Gwen Small, “Power-lines,” watercolor and ink, grade 11, Sheboygan Lutheran High School, teacher Laura Adameak
Gwen Small, Grade 11
Why do you choose to take art class as an elective?
I choose to take art class as an elective because there is nothing else I’d rather be doing with my time. The school day is quite often draining, so it’s nice, for 45 minutes, to have a class that makes me happier.
What is your favorite thing to make, your favorite tool, or favorite media to work with and why?
My favorite thing to make would be anything traditional right now. I’m not too well-versed with digital media yet. Genuinely I still love using pencil and pen/ink for a lot of things. It’s what I used when I was younger and didn’t have access to higher-end materials. It feels the most natural to me. I also enjoy oil pastels and recently I’ve started getting into watercolor and trying out new things such as oil paints.
What is the story or background to the piece you have in this show? What was special about making it?
The alley and power lines remind me of my childhood, walking around Sheboygan and seeing the more run-down parts of town.
How do you feel when other people look at your work?
When other people look at my work it bothers me a lot actually. And that’s something I’m trying to work on. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I always feel what I create is being analyzed or picked apart, and if I don’t get the kind of reaction I had pre-imagined in my head, then I usually lose all the confidence I had with that specific piece. For example, I recently turned in another oil painting, my second one. I really wanted to work on blending in this piece instead of the illustrated effect I had made in the first one. I accomplished my goal but the composition of the piece wasn’t great. When I showed my art teacher I could tell she didn’t like it too much and that hurt. It made me feel as if I had wasted my time creating it at all. That’s the very thing I’d like to work on, finding value in what I create even if others don’t see it.
What are you going to make next?
The next thing I’m going to make is a water color painting of a woman taking off her bra from behind. I want to emphasize the joints and the pain of what she’s doing. I also have an oil painting of a man sitting in his kitchen started. I’m hoping the composition on this one will be better.
The Big East Conference High School Art Exhibit will be open through April 17, 2022. The Rahr-West Art Museum is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, and weekends from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Please note that the Museum will be closed April 15 and 17, 2022 for Good Friday and Easter. Find more information on exhibits and programs at www.rahrwestartmuseum.org
