With hopes of increasing art show attendance, the annual art show teamed up with the fine arts’ MUSE night on April 1. The event took place during Spark Week, which invited community members to participate in events and enjoy student art work.
“We opened it up to the community. Family, friends, and students from other districts came to see the art show,” said art teacher Kelly Bott.
Teachers try to include projects from a variety of art courses.
“For the art show, we try to exhibit at least one piece of art from all students who take art classes during the course of that year. That is approxi¬mately 350-375 students,” said art teacher Randy Sweitzer.
The students are able to put in any work they have worked on in their art classes.
“Any student can enter artwork they’ve created in the past school year,” said art teacher Sue Foecking.
The art show has been around since the school opened 11 years ago, and is not combined with Grayslake Central.
“Both Grayslake Central and Grayslake North conduct their own art shows,” Sweitzer said.
Students prepare year round for the art show, and they can include a project from any unit in the class.
“They select their best work, make the labels and name tags, and we set them out for the art show,” Foecking said.
The art show and MUSE created an exciting event for fine arts teachers and students.
“Our first MUSE celebra¬tion of the fine arts was a huge success. The event drew more patrons to view the art show than any of the teachers can re¬member. Our goal was to bring attentions to the dynamic, tal¬ented and creative students in the GNHS fine arts program. We think we were successful, and we look to use the excite¬ment and momentum from this year’s event to improve and expand MUSE next year,” Sweitzer said.
For students, the art show is a unique and exciting expe¬rience.
“It was cool to see three of my art projects in the show, and my friends and parents got to see them displayed, too,”said sophomore Annie Watters.
Students also had the opportunity to win awards for their artwork, which were presented that night.
“I won an award for my oil pastel of a flower. It was an honor to receive this award,” Watters said. “Mr. Sweitzer is one of my favorite teachers, and it was awesome for him to pick my artwork.”