Burkhead awarded ‘Best of Show’ at 3rd annual visual/arts show
It’s been exciting several weeks for the Onaway High School art program.
Following a spring break trip to New York City, students hosted the third annual visual/arts show Wednesday in the OHS cafetorium.
Barb Wiersma’s students displayed creations they have worked on throughout the school year. Getting a lot of the attention at the well-attended show was the larger than life 3-D Pop Art, such as the three-foot tall Pringles can.
Autumn Chesnutt recreated a Marilyn Monroe star from the Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame. On the edges of the star were pictures of Marilyn Monroe.
Jamie Martin made a giant Sponge Bob/Square Pants, which was the 3-D category winner. Stephanie Merchant had three, two-foot tall dominoes made of wood.
The different mediums displayed were ceramics, sculpture, paintings, and drawings.
THE “BEST OF SHOW” award went to Chris Burkhead for several of the creations he had on display. Burkhead won in the drawing category for his piece called “Ingenuity.” It was a drawing of a monkey holding a lighter.
Chesnutt took runner-up honors. Along with the star, she was awarded first place for her ‘Chicago” painting. Chesnutt also had a self-portrait made from torn pieces of newspaper. Tori Hawley was awarded first place in the ceramic category, while Casey Light had the best artwork created on a computer.
A parent commented to Wiersma that “you must be proud of your students.” “It’s true,” she said.
Wiersma strives for her art students to think differently and be creative. The best of each mediums were put on display for the show.
There wasn’t as much artwork as last year, because the elementary and junior art programs were eliminated before the beginning of the 2004-05 school year.
ON DISPLAY at the show were pictures from the trip to New York. A group of 13 students traveled 15 hours in two vans to the Big Apple March 23.
They visited all the major tourist attractions such as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Time Square, and Ground Zero.
The students also visited the Metr
“Every minute was jam-packed,” said Wiersma. “They were worn out by the end of each day.”
The largest expense came when the group went to see the Broadway show “Rent.” The cost to attend was $785, but was covered by a $1,200 grant from the Northeast Michigan Youth Advisory Council.
Wiersma said the students raved about their experience and had a great time. Previous trips by Wiersma’s classes have been to Chicago, but they wanted to see if enough money could be raised to travel to New York.
The expenses would be double, and that’s probably why it took two years to raise the money.