Students of all ages displayed their artwork on Friday, April 19th, at Berkeley Carroll’s very first All-School Art Walk. Berkeley Carroll had held an art show in December, mostly displaying artwork from the Middle and Upper Schools. However, for this Art Walk, because of the new building, there was space available to exhibit artwork from the Lower School and other extended BC art programs as well. While Lower and Middle Schoolers enjoyed Grandparents’ Day, families and friends of the Berkeley Carroll community were given tours around the school to view the art.
A great variety of artwork, from paintings to photography to metal work, was exhibited all over the school. Members of the Upper School Jazz Band even entertained visitors with various jazz pieces throughout the evening. All the while, proud teachers and students were dispersed throughout the building, presenting the great work and effort that each student had contributed to the show. Ms. Haber, the Upper School Photography teacher, commented on the students’ hard work: “There is such a variety of subjects and ideas that are creatively presented in a variety of media. We seem to have wonderful painters, photographers, sculptors, and video makers. It is an impressive and exciting display of art from students.”
The space used for the Art Walk not only increased the amount of artwork on display, but also expanded the ideas for the event. The giant replica of an iPhone, created by junior Henry Gordon, and a sculpted tree made by junior Rebecca Ennis, were only some of the two phenomenal pieces presented. Henry described the process of creating the iPhone: “It took me about two months to create the whole structure; we first had to measure everything out, then set up a plan to create the structure, then finally make the structure. All in all, the whole process was long, but completely worth it.” Many students drew their inspiration from classwork. Rebecca Ennis explains that she “was inspired to create the tree after Mr. Swift assigned my class a mini assignment based around the theme natural/unnatural.” She also recalls drawing inspiration from an Oscar Wilde quote: ‘A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.’ “It got me thinking,” Rebecca explains, “about how the natural often chases perfection until it becomes the unnatural. I then started thinking about a tree that became so perfected and preserved that it was no longer a living thing, but a structure of metal.”
“The event was a lot different from what we’ve done before,” explains Mr. Poon, the Upper School’s Digital Arts teacher. “The new space from the recent construction gave us the idea of the All-School Art Walk.” He also mentioned that because of the new space, the administration was able to display all of the artwork from extended programs (such as the Spring Intensives, and the fifth and first grade’s Programa Del Artes project), in addition to the artwork from the standard core arts classes.
All attendees enjoyed the All-School Art Walk. The great amount of artwork that our school displayed represents the diversity in the BC community; a variety of ideas, personalities, and perspectives were expressed through the exhibited art in the school. The Art Walk was a fun and interactive way for families and friends to view the BC community as a whole. The art program is an essential part of Berkeley Carroll, and events like these take the time to acknowledge such a significant aspect of the school.
