Walking around the hallways of Grayslake Central High School, it is not uncommon to see art on the walls and presented in display cases around the school. These pieces often vary in medium; sometimes there are pieces of digital art and photography, other times there are large acrylic paintings and ceramic sculptures. With so many different fine arts classes, GCHS has plenty of students making art on a daily basis. All of this begs the question, why does the school showcase student art? What is the significance of displaying these different mediums of art?
In the fine art classes at Grayslake Central, a lot of time and effort are put into the art pieces that the students create. One piece of art made in a fine arts class can take over a full month of in-class days to finish, and even then, it is not uncommon for students to dedicate their own free time to working on their projects. Whether a student is working on a ceramic vase, a photography collage, or a painting on a canvas, a lot of time must be sacrificed in order to reach the end product.
“Many people don’t see the hard work and the creative process that goes into the making of these [art pieces], so displaying them is a way to show the progress and the skill that all of our amazing students have here,” said art teacher Anna Jahncke. “It’s a way to build self esteem and confidence within our students.”
Displaying art can be a point of pride for some students. When their art is shown in one of the display cases around the school, it can be a source of satisfaction that the student might not always get. There aren’t always very many opportunities for students to showcase their artwork, so displaying it around the school helps them get acknowledged.
“[Having my art displayed] feels good, because a lot of people in this school know me as someone who does art, but people don’t actually see it,” said junior Brynn Jones. “[So] it’s really nice to have people tell me ‘this is so good, I didn’t know you were this good.”
According to fine arts teacher Brian Divis, student art has been on display in GCHS since before his employment at the school in 1998. Some of the art pieces in the school’s permanent collection, which are the art pieces that are framed on the walls around the building, are from even further back. Mr. Divis said that the oldest piece in the school’s permanent collection is from 1977, which only goes to show the school’s extensive history of displaying art made by its own talented students.
“The way I look at it, [the art] is a representation of the student experience, and this school is a shared community space where students are the majority of the population,” said Divis. “It only makes sense to have their artwork displayed in a way that showcases their talents.”
