For the first time in two years, Peter Skene Secondary School’s art class has returned to Parkside for the PSO Student Showcase.
Featuring a wide range of artwork students have completed throughout the year, the showcase opened on Saturday, Jan. 13. PSO art teacher Lianne Heales said she’s incredibly proud of the work her students put into the show.
“There’s no set theme. It almost feels like there’s no time in a school year because we’re trying to get through so much,” Heales said. “When it comes to a show I give them the opportunity to do extra pieces. What I always hope for with the students is the work they’re doing has some kind of personal voice. If they’re not connecting to it it’s really hard for them to invest any time or creativity.”
One of the students featured in the showcase is Jake Millar a Grade 11 student hoping to become a carpenter. Millar admitted wryly he originally only took art for the credits and didn’t care too much about it at first. Over the last few months, however, that’s changed.
“I’ve slowly gotten more into art and gotten better at doing it. I’ve improved so much I’ve gotten some stuff in the art show now, so it feels pretty good,” Millar said. “Tattoos, mainly, is (what did it). Designing tattoos is pretty cool and one of my pieces in the show is a tattoo design of a monkey.”
Creating something new and colourful is a rewarding experience, Millar remarked. He especially enjoyed showing his art to his family, leading them around Parkside during the show’s opening on Saturday. In addition to his own art, he pointed out the art of his friends several times.
“All the art is pretty good, everyone put their hardest work into it and I think people should just come see it,” Millar said.
Heales joked she felt a little guilty dropping off the art at the gallery last week for volunteers to hang. The last time her students did a show at the gallery she brought 176 pieces of art. This year she brought well over 200 pieces for display ranging from the sketch drawings she starts her students with to paintings and sculptures, including a large human figure made from wire.
“Some of those are multiple smaller pieces. The students did print making so there’s multiple smaller pieces of the same thing and then we did projects where multiple students did group pieces,” Heales said. “Some of the pieces are completely the students’ own creations. When I told them the show was coming up they had the option to create something independently and many of them did.”
Unique this year Heales said that many of her students are willing to sell and part with their work. It can be hard for artists, especially student artists, to “do something they love and allow it to leave.” Putting hours into a piece often makes students emotionally connect with the work, so learning to sell them is an important step.
Selling her art wasn’t an issue for Lauren Aikenhead, who dabbles in charcoal drawings and watercolours. Aikenhead explained she was just making her art in class one day when Heales suggested she sell some of her pieces in the upcoming show.
“It’s easy to do because I already have the pieces and they’re just going to sit around otherwise, so might as well sell them,” Aikenhead remarked. “I just like doing the art, I don’t really want to keep it so it’s better to get rid of it.”
Aikenhead said she specializes in doing more dark and abstract art with darker themes. She cleaves to the belief that “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the normal.”
Now in her fifth year as an art teacher, Heales said her favourite part of her “dream job” remains watching the development of her students. In this show especially she said you can see their development and growth.
“I love art, that’s my background, so I love that I get to spend all-day talking about art and working with kids who love art,” Heales said. “The most enjoyable thing is when I have a kid that didn’t know they liked art or had a skill for and then they do something they’re really proud of. They find their own creativity and voice to express themselves, so it’s fun to watch that initial fire.”
Heales encourages the community to come out and experience the joy she feels when looking over her students’ art. The show runs at Parkside until Feb. 24.
