It was also new to me that scrapbooking can be art too. I've always thought that it was something people did for fun when they were bored. However, I saw some beautiful sketchbooks filled with doodles, patterns, and simple writing that made impressive pieces of artwork when put together.
It was especially shocking to see the quality of teacher's work who aren't even affiliated with the art department. I realized that teachers aren't necessarily just good at what they teach; they can also be good at things we don't expect them to know how to do, like art.
Same goes for Studio Art kids-I had no idea some of them were artists. Seeing them in math/science classes and seeing their artworks was eye-opening. I honestly did not expect school’s smartest math and science geeks to be THAT good at art.
I also came to realize that art unites people. I’ve been to numerous exhibitions, where I saw artwork of professional artists. Many of those exhibitions were world famous; it was obvious that lots of time and money has been put into them. Don’t get me wrong-I’m a huge fan of world famous art museums and I truly respect the amount of work featured artists put into their art. However, I don’t visit small-scale exhibitions that often and honestly, I’ve never thought I needed to. I’ve always considered such places as Louvre and MOMA the best collections of art there are in the world. So, of course, I’ve never been to an exhibition of my teachers’ art.
Artwork presented at the Faculty/Staff exhibition turned out to be better than a lot of the stuff I’ve seen at MOMA, that’s for sure. However, even though the quality and the variety of techniques matter, they were not the main thing that amazed me. What I saw was a great range of talents that we have here at SAS. It turned out that faculty and staff who I pass in the hallways every day are all incredibly talented people. They aren’t just math or history teachers, they are also artists, musicians, actors.
And students aren’t just students. They are so much more than that. I know that some of them struggled with art during first semester. A couple of them even used to ask me how I survived in AP Drawing. Now, I can tell that they are much more confident with their art, their skills, their talent. And art isn’t just math or history- memorizing dates and formulas doesn’t do the trick. Kids who used to struggle in art developed skills and habits that took more time and effort than any test-prep session. I was so proud of them because last year, I was a Studio Art student, too, and I know exactly what it feels like to be unconfident about your own art.
I realized that art really does unite people. Not all of us are good at science or languages, but art is something everyone is capable of creating. Whether it is a sketchbook piece or a ceramic pot, every art piece is unique and beautiful, and so are people at SAS, with their hidden talents and secret aspirations.
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