On May 26, the Emmaus High School Art Department hosted its annual art show at EHS, featuring the creations that student artists worked on throughout the school year.
The second floor of EHS was crowded with people who came to view the numerous pieces of art that lined the halls and filled classrooms. The types of art that students showcased ranged from paintings to pottery to textile creations. Senior Laura Vigliotti, who won the art show’s logo contest this year, wanted her logo design to reflect the diversity of the students’ works.
“[The logo is] a skull with flowers coming out of it, the crochet needle, the clay tool, the paintbrush and the pencil,” Vigliotti said. “I tried to make it more inclusive, just so all the different art forms are represented.”
Vigliotti, an AP Studio Art student, displayed a collection at the fair entitled “The Body and the Mind: An Exploration of Philosophy through Human Anatomy.”
“So, basically, I wanted to try to convey different philosophies, like just those sayings you hear people say, like ‘is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?’ and ‘give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime,’” Vigliotti said. “So I decided to link all of those, since they’re a human concept, to actual human anatomy… I portrayed each philosophy with a different form of anatomy, whether it be a leg, an organ, a heart, a stomach.”
Senior Lauryn Teti is also enrolled in AP Studio Art, as well as Painting II and Drawing II. She created a collection entitled “Imagery through Lyrics,” for which she illustrated songs that have special meaning to her.
“I love listening to music and I’m really inspired by it,” Teti said. “I like to go to the concerts and actually feel the vibes that the artists give off. I was just inspired by a lot of song lyrics and they’re all really meaningful to me. It’s only six artists and two songs from each artist. So I did each one and used a medium that I felt really encompassed all the feelings.”
Her favorite part of the art show is talking to people and seeing how the art affects them.
“I think it’s really interesting to hear people’s comments and hear how much they enjoy looking at things and how [art] inspires other people,” Teti said. “I think it’s really cool.”
Junior Lauren Hodes, a Drawing II and Crafts II student, had various pieces featured in the art show including a drawing of a lynx which was awarded a Gold Key Scholastic Art Award. Her favorite aspect of the show is seeing all the art that students have created throughout the entire year.
“Choir kids have their concerts. This is like our concert,” Hodes said.
Art Department Chair Lisa Caruso was pleased with the turnout at the show.
“I think the community came out and supported us well. I really think the community has always supported it really well,” Caruso said. “I have to say, I always felt well-supported in this community for the arts in general. I think the parents do place importance on the arts with their kids because I think they would be upset if we didn’t have such a program.”
Caruso believes that the art show provides something for younger art students in foundation level art classes to aspire to. She also enjoys seeing people of all ages appreciating the art showcased at the show.
“I like seeing that people bring their children, and the kids really like it, and they tell us ‘my kid’s favorite piece is that one,’ and so that’s nice too because it’s good for young people to start to understand and appreciate the visual as well,” Caruso said.
Senior Maniya Roberts, a Drawing II student, credits art teacher Tracy Maley for her students’ success.
“[Maley is] very sweet, very inspirational and knows her stuff about art,” Roberts said.
Sydney Powers, a senior enrolled in Ceramics 3, also spoke highly of her teacher, Caruso.
“She is really determined and pushes us to get our work as perfect as possible. She inspires us to do our best,” Powers said.
The art displayed at the show was evaluated by judges, who selected winners from each category:
For the AP Art Studio Gallery, Efrain Morales for his work “Nest”
From the Painting Gallery, Gabi Landi for her painting “Sloth”
From the Drawing Gallery, Tara Maake for her drawing “Great Horned Owl”
From the Design Gallery, Cami Majczan for “Stockholm Coffee Shelf”
From the Ceramics Gallery, Sara Jobes for her “Dinnerware Set”
From the Crafts Gallery, Taylor Faidley for her Felted project
From Foundations Gallery, Darci Ott for her Portrait
Photographs courtesy of Lily Day
