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Date: 5/18/2022
NORTHAMPTON – After a two-year hiatus, the Northampton High School (NHS) Student Art Exhibit returned to the Hosmer Gallery at Forbes Library. The exhibit opened on May 5 and will run through May 31.
On May 13, a reception was conducted during Northampton’s Arts Night Out to highlight 14 senior shows plus a showcase of student work in Grades 9-12 from the following classes: Concepts in Art, Drawing and Painting, Ceramics 1, Ceramics 2, Honors Art, and Graphic Design, Printmaking and Book Arts.
“The Northampton High School Student Art Exhibition is something we’ve been doing for a number of years,” said Louise Martindell, fine and performing arts teacher at NHS, and co-coordinator of the exhibit. “It’s been two years since our last in-person show, so this feels like a huge deal for the department and the school because it’s our first chance since 2019 to get our art into the community.”
According to Martindell, there are “hundreds” of pieces on display that encompass a variety of media including, ceramics, mixed media, drawing, painting and collage. “We have 14 seniors who are graduating who have curated their own show,” said Martindell.
The first half of the gallery features an amalgam of pieces from the 12 different art classes NHS offers, while the back end of the gallery features the 14 senior shows. According to Martindell, the seniors have been working on their shows for the entire year. “They’ve had to create project proposals, write artist statements … they hung the work themselves,” added Martindell. “They’re getting that real-world experience that a working artist would have.”
For the senior shows, Martindell said each student investigated a theme, skill, or approach to art-making through their own pieces of work. The work they display had to feel like a mini exhibition, as a result.
As for the rest of the work, Martindell said a lot of it is curated by her and NHS art teacher/artist Zoe Sasson, the other coordinator of this exhibit. The art pulled from the 12 different classes represents specific prompts or assignments that students had to follow throughout the school year. “We don’t have the space to include everyone unfortunately, so we tried to prioritize juniors and seniors,” said Martindell. “We try to a pull a piece from each student to try and showcase each student’s strength.”
“It feels absolutely awesome to be able to get back out into the community again,” continued Martindell. “We really pride ourselves on our Fine and Performing Arts program. It’s such an important part of our community. The students are beginning to see how enrolling in an arts program has real-world art implications. It’s a real point of pride.”
People are welcome to visit the Hosmer Gallery to check out the students’ work for the rest of the month.