The March 12th reception for the Friends Select Senior Art Exhibition highlighted a programmatic shift.
While the annual event has existed for nearly two decades, it previously featured only students in the Portfolio Preparation class. This year, the art department expanded the show to include all seniors enrolled in art classes. Art Department Chair Zoë Blatt said, “I felt it was very important to include and celebrate all senior artists, no matter what their stage of artistic development or area of focus.” According to the art teachers, there were a few challenges like missing pieces and tight timelines, but overall, the process offered students a platform to reflect, collaborate, and celebrate their growth.
Daphne Klose ‘25, one of the Portfolio Prep students, mentioned that this year’s art show gave her more freedom to create art pieces about anything she wanted. While that freedom brought its own challenges, like coming up with original ideas, she found joy in the process. One of her pieces was a large painting on canvas of her tortoise, BB, which was an idea suggested by a friend. “I love going into the art room and listening to music or talking to my friends,” Daphne said. Her main takeaway from the painting process was letting the inspiration flow without overthinking it.
As a digital art student, Khalea Robinson ’25 brought a different medium to the art show: a documentary film capturing the voices and artwork of all the featured seniors. Inspired by TikTok’s, commercials, and Netflix documentaries, Khalea wanted to highlight her classmates’ creativity while experimenting with new filming and editing techniques she learned from social media over the years. Khalea encountered some problems, but to her, the problem-solving process was joyful. She said, “Obviously, making these films is something that is very fun for me, so I had a great time throughout the entire process. I definitely want to work on my interviewing skills, but also not freak out when I make one small mistake!”
In Metalsmithing, Rachel Pastor ’25 showcased her years of hands-on, technical work. Rachel focused on combining metal and fiber arts, and she loves taking inspiration from pop art and bold colors. She highlighted a silver butterfly necklace cast out of wax. Regarding metalsmithing, Rachel said, “I never really have full control over the metal and what it will do, so I try my best to stay calm and trust the process,” which she enjoys.
Another metalsmithing student, Bryant Peacock ‘25, focuses more on metal sculpting. He takes inspiration from nature, and his favorite part of the process was soldering, which is a process of joining two metal surfaces together using a filler metal. Bryant has a deer skull at home, and he was inspired to make it out of metal. This making process involved lots of cutting and planning. His most challenging project, a sculpted monster, required him to teach himself both sculpting and taxidermy.
The Senior Art Show gave students a chance to look back on their years of creativity and growth. 3D Art Teacher Lynda Greenwade says, “I think it creates a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
As a fun coincidence, the reception occurred on Khalea’s birthday and was the day before Daphne’s birthday. Parents and students who attended the reception sang a birthday song to both of them.
