Brightly colored drawings, pencil sketches, collages and more were on display in the old gym on the Escalon High School campus over the past week, with the annual Arts Alive showcasing the talent of Escalon Unified School District students.
The show ran from Monday, March 4 through Friday, March 8. Each day saw groups of students from other schools in the district visit the show at the high school and take part in a number of hands on art activities. Those ranged from simple coloring to spin art, block printing to face painting, stencil art and air brush tattoos, among others.
For student Isabella Podwinski Grant, she was one of the artists chosen to have a feature display this year, with her work ranging from an octopus emerging from a skull, set against a map, to a castle, a waterfall, a church she saw when she visited the ghost town of Bodie, and more.
“A lot of it came from pictures or just a bunch of ideas that I dreamed up,” she explained of her full wall of her artwork. Her personal favorite in the show was one of contrasts, with a vividly colored snail seen among a black and white backdrop of mushrooms.
“The contrast between the background and the color, it’s just like so in your face,” Podwinski Grant explained of the piece she created.
She also said working with art provides her with another outlet.
“I would say it’s getting emotions out; whatever’s on your mind, even if you can’t portray that to who is seeing it, it’s just like, you’re getting it out,” she noted.
Art teacher Jewell Kelley said this year was a “great show” in many respects.
“We’ve had one of our best showings, we’ve sold more artwork this year than ever before, people are really proud of all of the work that’s here, from TK all the way to the high school … I couldn’t ask for a better show.”
Kelley said the older students always enjoy helping out with the hands on events and she said there was no specific theme this year, just a general one of “exploring art” which she believes allowed for more creativity.
Among those touring the show on Friday was school board member Nick Caton, who agreed with Kelley about the quality of work he saw.
“It’s an amazing outlet for some of our students; the talent here at Escalon always surprises me and as you wander through here, it just makes you really proud to be from Escalon when you see the talent that is here,” Caton said.
And while it’s a busy week on campus, it’s also a fun one.
“I think it’s a lot of good mentorship, too,” Caton said, “with the older students going around and talking to a lot of the elementary kids about what’s available here and what they can do.”
For the high school’s Art Club President, senior Ace Lombardo, it is all about the creative process.
“I’m really glad I got to have my own wall for the last year,” Lombardo said, adding that a favorite part is also to work with the younger students.
“It’s so much fun,” Lombardo said. “After I’m done with face painting, because that’s what I usually do, I’ll either go to them (younger students) and ask what is their favorite piece ... I just get such joy out of seeing that everyone’s art is appreciated here and that all the schools get to show off their art.”
