Everything in Art

High school artists featured in downtown art event.
Three students from the Camas High School Everything in Art classes participated in the second annual “Arts and Letters” (student art and local authors) First Friday event in March in downtown Camas. It was such a successful event in 2010 that students were asked to participate again. Carrie Schulstad, owner of The Uncommon Gift and Board Member of the Downtown Camas Association said, “The event is such a great way to connect the schools with downtown as well as provide a venue for student expression and development of the love of the arts.” Gina Mariotti Shapard, the teacher of the Everything in Art classes was excited about the opportunity to showcase her students’ art saying, “Students stretched their creative thinking by using a synectic (a tool for generating creative ideas) to show their paper mache’ animals in a new light. I think students ‘get’ that art has meaning and it can go beyond decoration.” Students reported that synectics helped them experiment with ideas as well as the elements and principles of art.

Students who participated in the First Friday were: Noah Shannon “The Mighty Butterfrog,” a colorful hybrid of butterfly and frog; Gabrielle Curtis “Octosushi,” a parody of a purple octopus who made his own sushi; and Alexis Wallen “Johnny,” a snappy alligator morphing into a Converse shoe.