Waseca art students showing off their work, May 23, 2022 are shown above. In the top photo, back row from left: Jen Popp, Gabe Emery, Ali Mumme, Hazel Moore, Lizzy Manthe, Teylor Malecha, Kami Hager, Elaina Andrs. Front row: Haylie Kmecik, Lizzie Roessler, Eva Keck, Kiana Sands, Kylie Snow, Melanie Krueger Eineke, Jaya Kunkel, Grace Lapides. Middle right is Ali Mumme, with her art piece that won Spotlight at a competition, earning her a trip to the state competition.
Star Eagle photos by Amelia Roessler
By AMELIA ROESSLER
Staff Writer
May 23 was a time for the art students at the Waseca High School to demonstrate their talent, and show off. 6 p.m. Monday was a time for parents, the community, and other students to come and admire the art of the Waseca students at their annual art show. The walls and tables were lined with pieces of beautiful art in the alcove of the commons at the high school.
The art included various 2D and 3D pieces from each student from grades nine to twelve, with no particular theme as the students were free to create as they wished. “Anything from graphic design and drawing and painting, to sculpture, ceramics, and 3D design,” explains art teacher Jen Popp who has been an art teacher for 23 years.
The nice part about having the art show when it was, was that the Waseca High School choir concert was right after it, meaning that students from the choir could come and see their art or the art of their classmates as they walked to the choir room. And the art students can hear the choir students during their concert.
“In the art world, everything happens in the spring,” Popp explains, talking about all the competitions that the art students face, such as sections, a contest at the Waseca Art Center, a Congressional Art competition depending on the year, and even Submissions to the Scholastic Art Awards. This year for sections, five out of ten art works from the Waseca High School students were chosen to spotlight. Popp explained how this was a big deal, considering only one usually gets chosen. This art show at the school, though, is the final event of the year.
Popp expressed how important this event is, not only for people to see the art, but for the art students to have an opportunity to show off their pieces when they might be shy in doing so. Positive feedback is important, and Popp thinks this art show is the perfect way for the artists to get that.
With amazingly creative art pieces like that, it would be difficult to think that they didn’t get that positive feedback, as people experienced the art of talented high school students.