Seniors Reflect on Art Careers with Annual Show
This year, on April 26th, the Livingston Center for Art and Culture collaborated with Sarah Mussetter, Raeann Nilan, and Brittney Hampson to put on yet another successful art show to exhibit the artistic talents of the Park High seniors. The senior art show is an exciting opportunity for students to display the pieces of artwork that they are most proud of from their last four years of high school. Not only was this show full of amazing art pieces, but also delicious treats prepared by Hampson’s Culinary Arts classes. Cake pops, chocolate-covered strawberries, fruit, and more were served at the event to highlight the students’ culinary skills.
Many Park High seniors find art to be therapeutic and relaxing. Although art takes a significant amount of dedication and patience, the seniors enjoy it. Irie O’Dea plans to pursue a career in art by going into art therapy at the University of Montana. O’Dea particularly enjoys acrylic painting and portraying landscapes in her pieces. She displayed several of her paintings in the art show and sold one landscape painting for $250 and was most proud of her large bison painting. Anna Gasparakis, an artist most confident in realistic oil painting, stated that she was most proud of her painting of a rooster and said that this piece got many offers, the majority of which were willing to pay $500 and above. Gasparakis sees a future in art to help pay off college expenses and to have as a side occupation.
Along with paintings, there were also other forms of art displayed in the show, including pottery, woodwork, and photography. Andrew Durgan was most proud of his wooden trout that he completed in Woods 1 and he has also completed all three years of pottery and an independent study. Mathew Marlowe had a dozen photos in the art show, most of which were taken of landscape and nature. Marlowe plans on continuing photography in the future.
Not only did the art show bring the community together to admire senior artwork, but it also gave both the teachers and students a feeling of pride for the growth the seniors have achieved throughout the years. “Some seniors brought in art from their freshman year and seeing how seniors have grown as artists and how much more refined and skillful they’ve become in the last four years is really fun,” said Mussetter.
