By Christina Appignani and Megan Downer
On Thursday Apr. 7, 2016 the Malden High School Art Department hosted the opening reception for the annual Blue and Gold Art Gallery on display at 350 Main St. Some 250 works of arts created by MHS’s very own art students from classes including Studio, Digital Arts, Calligraphy & Design, Printmaking and Ceramics, were displayed in the gallery. The three art teachers, Joe Luongo, Mary Ann Seager and Julie Mullane welcomed guests as they entered the reception. This year’s gallery was dedicated to Principal Dana Brown in recognition of his upcoming retirement.
Seager explained that this year’s art gallery is unique because “the seniors have been studying juxtaposition and there are some nice pieces included in the gallery.” She continued to explain that some of the art classes studied immigration and three phases to creating art was based off of their research. “First, [students] investigated their own immigration story, [then they] investigated what happened to the Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 1920’s.” Students concluded their research with studying current immigration issues.
Seager hopes that Brown will be able to see the way “his commitment to the art department is reflected in the level of work that the [students] do.” “Over time, [the art department] has been able to develop a cohesive program that focuses on mastery of skill” and Brown “has helped [the art department] get to where [it is] today,” expressed Seager.
All of the art pieces included in the gallery were created between the end of the last school year up to now which, according to Seager, is because “there is always one quarter where [students] don’t get to finish their artwork, especially seniors, whose pieces are mostly from last semester.” She further explained that the class is “a year-long process and has four semesters worth of work.” Seager referred to seniors Ziqi Zeng’s juxtaposition work on paper airplanes, Haley Mulligan’s skeleton, Daria Lee’s bicycle and Jade Liu’s tricycle as examples of exceptional work. She also mentioned that there are “beautiful ceramics pieces, interesting digital art and Studio 1 pieces where [Seager] can see the transition of skill level from new students.”
Along with the art department itself, the students are what make the gallery so successful. Senior Michael Zhao felt honored to be included in the gallery because he believes the show “exhibits so many different art pieces of various skill levels.” He mentioned that he “felt surprised at first to hear that [he] had four pieces in the show and [he] was really happy to hear that [he] was one of the students to be selected to show [his] art pieces to the people that come to the Blue & Gold Gallery.”
To freshman Kelly Zhou, art means “trying new things and experimenting with new techniques and coming up with [her] own ideas because [she] think that’s what makes art, art.” In addition, she thinks that art is important because “it allows people to see the world in a perspective that makes [them] think about why and what it is about and everybody has different opinions and thoughts that can make a piece of art have 1000 meanings.”
When producing new artwork, junior Amy Trinh enjoys “the process of seeing everything come together.” Trinh continued, “Being able to see a piece become what [she] envisioned more and more, day after day is truly satisfying.” To Trinh, “art is a translator… it can capture an image, an emotion or a moment in time.” She believes art has the ability to challenge, and maybe even change the way something is thought about or viewed.”
Junior Serena Nguyen enjoys “the feeling of expression and release when creating art [and] feels tension and emotion leave [her] and goes into the piece.” She expressed that it “feels amazing [to her] to be included with many other wonderful MHS art students and [she] feels very grateful to be included in the gallery.”
Senior Chu Shi describes the ability to draw and create art as a gift. “People [her age] are finding what do they want to major in college or what to do in the future…but because of art [she] found what [she wants] to do,” expressed Shi. Shi added that her family immigrated to this country and she experiences difficulty communicating sometimes but “through art [she] met a lot of friends that [have] the same hobby as [she does].” Art helps Shi to speak for herself and believes that “art is a language” in itself.
This year, every senior who applied to an art college was accepted. There were 11 seniors in total who applied, including Kristina Gilbert, Yiqi Huang, Lee, Liu, Mulligan, Matthew Perry, Shi, Linda Tran, Xiao Ling Wang, Zeng and Michael Zhao. The art department stated that “this is an exceptional class [and] , as always, [they] are proud of [their] students.”
Twenty art students also won Scholastic Art Awards. The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Committee chose 22 artworks created by MHS students, which was more than were awarded to the surrounding district high schools combined. The art department revealed that “Malden High School has consistently received Gold, Silver and Honorable Mention awards throughout the years.” “[They] are especially pleased that the two new programs, Ceramics and Digital Art, have made their mark in the Scholastic Awards.” Art continues to be an exceptional and meaningful department at MHS for staff and students alike.
