Upper School Artists Earn Widespread Recognition
Six Upper School seniors have recently been recognized for their creative talent and artistic skills developed and honed through years of practice and dedication.
Ceramic and digital works by Marlaina Mathisen and Storey Pearson were recognized at state and national levels, respectively:
- Storey’s arresting digital work won a Gold Key in the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for Missouri. (Gold Key works are automatically considered for national-level recognition.)
- Marlaina’s View from Home was one of only 150 pieces selected from 1,413 entries for this year’s National K–12 Ceramics Exhibition in Portland, Oregon.
What’s even more remarkable is that this is the first year Principia has entered student work in either of these contests.
Four other seniors’ creations have been accepted for display in the 2017 Young Artists' Showcase, an annual, juried, all-media exhibition of artwork created by high school students in the St. Louis area:
- Gastuvas Balukake—scratchboard drawing
- Jessica Bayne—wire sculpture
- Corey Carter—digital portrait
- Stanton Ott—ceramic sculpture
Sponsored by the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, the student art exhibition runs from March 9 through April 1; special awards will be announced opening night. (In the last two years, Principia students have received one or more of these awards.)
“The students accepted in these exhibitions have been dedicated art students for a number of years, and it is wonderful that their hard work is being recognized,” says art teacher Caitlin Heimerl (US’06). “Whether their work is bold, witty, or whimsical, these students are learning how to express their artistic voice with confidence.”
Heimerl and her colleague, Kristin Serafini (US’94, C’98), encourage students to feel empowered to express their own ideas and take creative risks. Reflecting on her inspiration and aim for the poster design, Storey notes, “I felt that this was an engaging and surprising way to grab the customer’s attention that would connect with a short tagline. Though it is not the most traditional way of branding a product, I felt that the unusual quality forces the viewer to do a ‘double-take.’”
New courses in the curriculum—such as Socially Engaged Art, Graphic Novel Illustration, and Mural Workshop—“are helping to expand the students’ definition of what it means to be an artist,” Heimerl remarks. The School is also working to be flexible and responsive to student needs and interests. For example, one of the award winners is currently doing an independent study for credit in Advanced Graphic Design with Serafini, working on projects that will prepare her for real-world design work.