Thursday, April 18, marked the 42nd Art Day on the campus of Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas. The HCC art department hosts the annual event spearheaded by HCC art instructors, Sam Perkins and Brigitte Bruna. Food trucks and community members are invited to attend.
“This year’s event was one of the largest we’ve had in recent years,” stated Perkins. “It’s always amazing to see the level of work our regional high schools bring to Art Day. We are happy to have become the go to destination for art in Northeast Kansas.”
Art Day 42 Statistics:
Total number of high schools in attendance: 45
Total number of students on campus attending Art Day: 615
Total number of artworks hung and judged: 1,219
Total pounds of clay of thrown: 550
Total number of buttons made: 1,247
Total feet of tape sculpted: 5,040
Art Day Competitions & Award Winners:
Sidewalk Chalk:
Each school had the opportunity to create an art history inspired sidewalk chalk drawing with a 'Video Game' twist. Due to weather, this event was moved inside in the Math-Science hallway, but the location change did not stifle students’ creativity.
Winners:
1st- Gardner Edgerton High School
2nd- Spring Hill High School
3rd- Chanute High School
Art History Teams:
The theme is games. This event tested student knowledge in the area of Art History. Questions were taken from all of Art History. One team per school with up to four students per team is allowed. Teachers compete as individuals.
Winners:
1st- Washburn Rural High School
2nd- Savannah High School
3rd- Shawnee Heights High School
Art History (Teacher): Matt Leahy, Hiawatha High School
Team Clay Sculpture: Baldwin High School
Each high school was allowed to enter one team of four students for this event. This contest was designed to challenge the students' abilities to work as a team as well as their understanding of three-dimensional design and the principles of physics. Because of the rain, this year’s team clay sculpture criteria was changed to masking tape luminaries. Each school was given two rolls of masking tape and a small LED votive candle to illuminate their translucent sculptures.
Draw For Keeps: Chloe Yaborough, Central High School
Contestants were given an elegantly posed secret gaming artifact (Nintendo Gameboy) bathed in dramatic light to make a 2D drawing. Drawings were judged by Art Day judges.
Cosplay: Taylor Sutton, Atchison High School
Participants created and wore their own handcrafted video game character cosplays. (Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.)
Self Portrait: Autumn Sanchez, Washburn Rural High School
Contestants created a 2D creative self-portrait that was judged by Art Day judges.
Pottery Wheel Throwing Competition (Student): 15 3/4" Tall by Armando Mendez, Jefferson West High School
This traditional and eagerly attended event tests the participant’s clay throwing ability. Students were allowed two pounds of clay and two minutes to throw their largest vessel. Scores were measured by adding overall height and overall width. Participants are allowed one attempt per half hour.
Pottery Wheel Throwing Competition (Teacher): 15 3/4" Tall by Ryan Paget, Shawnee Heights High School
Details above.
Juried Art Competition:
The Art Competition is the crowning event for Art Day. Each high school may bring up to 30 works of art to be displayed and judged. Art Day judges view several hundred works of art and present Best of Show, Artistic Excellence and Honorable Mention awards to selected works. The competition offers students the opportunity to publicly display their art and to view the work of their fellow students. The show is a wonderful source of inspiration and ideas for students and educators alike.
Overall Art Day Trophy Winners by School Size:
1A, 2A, 3A
1st- Horton High School
2nd- Clifton Clyde High School
3rd- Sabetha High School
4A, 5A, 6A
1st- Spring Hill High School
2nd- Gardner Edgerton High School
3rd- Washburn Rural High School
Other Art Day Events:
- Button Making: Students created unique Art Day Buttons in this walk-in activity.
- Artist Trading Cards: This event gave students a chance to design and make Artist Trading Cards (ATCs).
- The Hefty Highland H:The HCC art department provided a massive “Big H” for students to “leave their mark” to endure throughout the ages. Selfies with the H were encouraged!
- Splatoon Art: This collaborative event pitted one school's colors against the others. Schools competed to claim the most surface area for bragging rights.
- Ready Set Shrink: This workshop allowed students to immortalize their favorite characters or their own designs into key-chains, pins and small designs to cherish.
- Mystery Community Mural: This collaborative event will help piece together a painting with a digital twist. Each student painted a small piece of a larger work that was unveiled as the painting was completed.