The Crusader Newspaper - Cardinal Gibbons High School

The Crusader 12 May 29, 2011
AP artists exhibit
whole year’s work
Artist Spotlight:
Leah Bryson
Graduating senior Leah Bryson
is attending the Rhode Island
School of Design in the fall to
continue her training in art
Dani Chiavegatto
Managing Editor
On Friday, May 6, students in
the three AP art classes showcased
their collaboration of projects
throughout the year in the annual
student art reception and exhibit.
Artists invited their parents,
students, and teachers to come
to Plant Ops to view what they
accomplished during the year.
Students chose a concentration
(which is basically a motif) and
based all of their works on that one
idea. Some students chose a more
cerebral approach, while other
chose a more artistic and creative
approach.
“I focused a lot on symbolism
and underlying meanings in each
project, and many of my projects
were based on typical stereotypes
found in society,” said junior Chloe
Mintel.
Selection of artwork was one
of the most challenging parts of
putting the show together.
“Choosing the pieces was
probably the most difficult part for
students in the AP art program. I
chose my pieces based on quality
for the most part, as well as my
favorites I’ve done all year,” said
Mintel. “Other things factor into the
process of choosing them, such as size,
how easily they transport, as well as
how to display them (some of the art
required mannequins to display).”
Other students chose different
approaches, such as a concentration
focused on the environment.
“My concentration was a series
of sculptures of flowers made from
recycled plastic bottles. I wanted to
do something that would be both
interesting to look at and fun to do. I
wanted to make lively, bright flowers
from used, industrial materials; what
most would see as garbage,” said
junior Glenn Driskill.
Students were required to have
at least five works, but many chose to
display more.
“I think it’s great that we all had
the chance to display our work for our
parents and other students to show
them what we’ve been doing all year!
It was great to end this year with a
bang, and I felt the art show was very
successful in doing so,” said Mintel.
“The show was done to not only
celebrate the completion of our AP
portfolios, but to display the quality
and talent of the art department with
the rest of the school,” said Driskill.
Out of the thirty students whose
artwork was displayed, seventeen
were seniors and this was their last
exhibit here at Gibbons.
Alexandra Hernandez
A&E Editor
Q: How did you get involved in the
arts?
A: I’ve always done art, I honestly
can’t remember a time when I didn’t.
But I guess it would really be going to
art camp in the summers that got me
started.
Q: How has your art experience
been at Gibbons?
A: I had a really great art
experience at Gibbons in terms of the
teachers I had, the other students I
got to be around, and the medium and
styles that I was exposed to and had the
opportunity to experiment with.
Q: Have you won any awards for
your art while at Gibbons or outside of
school?
A: Yep, I’ve won a few scholastic
Honors dancers debut original pieces
Alexandra Hernandez
A&E Editor
The Gibbons Dance program
staged one last show for the 2010-2011
school year, the Honors Dance Showcase,
on Thursday, May 19.
The show included a series of solos
and duets by various sophomores,
juniors, and seniors. However, this
show was unique compared to other
dance shows because honors dance
students got to perform their own
choreographed pieces for their friends
and families.
This show was also special because
it was the last concert that the
graduating seniors participated in as
Gibbons students. Rob Callus, Quinn
Czejkowski, Dree Deacon, and Gina
Ursetto performed for the last time
in the Gibbons theatre before graduation.
Along with the graduating seniors,
performers included sophomores Abbey
DiSano, Sarah Reynolds, Hannah
Cooke, Laura Matrazzo, and Emily
Schumann; juniors Christianna Carter,
Taylor Filliben, Elizabeth Reeves,
Sabrina Lage, Fei-Lin Scruggs, Dana
Jordan, and Brittany Thornton. All
Photos courtesy Chloe Mintel
Pieces like these, created by rising senior Chloe Mintel, were
displayed at the exhibit.
performed original dances in the
show.
The concert included thirteen
numbers and was completely run by
the students, including staging and
lighting. Tech Theatre students were
each paired up with a dancer to work
out the staging and lighting for their
piece.
“The tech theater kids were awesome.
They were focused and very
professional thanks to [technical theater
teacher Ms. Lexie] Nichols and all
of her hard work. The lighting turned
out great,” said Filliben.
Juniors Thornton and Filliben’s
duet to the song “Buzzin” by Mann
seemed to be a huge crowd pleaser
and energized the audience. Filliben
and Thornton integrated their different
dance styles to create a unique
duet.
“Brittany and I took our strengths
and combined them to choreograph
our dance. We have diverse dance
backgrounds [including ballet and
hip hop] and attempted to use that to
create a dance that was fun and energetic
for the audience,” said Filliben.
Artwork by Leah Bryson
art awards junior and senior years,
and this year I also won an award
from the visual arts exchange and
the American Visions award from
scholastics.
Q: Was RISD your dream
school?
A: Yeah, I would definitely say
that RISD was my dream school,
probably from the day I visited the
campus.
Q: Are you planning to pursue
art after college?
A: Absolutely, I will be doing
art for the rest of my life, but it
would be wonderful to have a
career in the art world.
Q: What is your favorite kind
of art? What do you like to draw
most?
A: I really like surrealism,
but there are so many kinds and
styles out there, it’s kind of hard
to choose. I like to draw from life
a lot, sketches mostly, or whatever
pops into my head really.
Q: What influences your art
most?
A: There are about a million
things that influence art. Nature,
dreams, people, places, pretty
much life in general, but nature’s
one of the bigger influences for
me.
Q: What is your favorite piece
of yours?
A: My favorite piece
right now is probably one of
concentration pieces I made. It’s
got a lot of texture and was kind
of experimental for me, so it was
great to see how it turned out!
Photo courtesy of Gibbons Dance
Graduating seniors Dree Deacon, Christine Prosser, Quinn
Czejowski, Gina Ursetto, Alison Shipkowski, and Lizzy Goudreau
pose outside of the dance room.
Page design by Section Editors Kristen DeMaria and Alexandra Hernandez