Revere High School (RHS) is hosting its annual Celebration of the Arts show to celebrate all the art work created this year and represent the seniors’ artistic abilities.
Every year, RHS hosts a week of the art show in their gymnasium to celebrate the arts for the whole district. Every art class is celebrated and has its own category. The categories include: Ceramics, Black & White Drawing, Color Drawing, Digital Art, 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Acrylic Painting, Watercolor Painting, Photography, Printmaking and Sculpture. Every student in an art class has the choice to submit up to six pieces that they completed this year, but only two pieces per category. Everyone has a chance to receive awards on those submitted pieces. The winners receive ribbons on their work. This year the show was held from May 5 to May 8. Revere will celebrate the arts through the annual ceremony. On May 5, the Celebration of the Arts award ceremony occurs in the RHS auditorium. On May 6 through May 8 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, the Revere community held a public viewing of all the artwork in the RHS aux gym. There are over two thousand entries every year, and every art class and every grade has work on display.
The Celebration of the Arts also pays a tribute to the seniors. Every senior has the opportunity to have a senior booth at the show displaying all of their favorite art pieces throughout their high school career. There are fourteen seniors this year who decided to create senior booths. The booths’ aim is to represent the seniors as a whole and show what makes them who they are. The booth is meant to reveal what a senior is passionate about and where their interests lie.
Karen Smik has been volunteering with the RHS Celebration of the Art show for about 25 years. This year, Smik is co-chairing the show with volunteer Marianne Grandon along with many other planning committee members who work to set the celebration up. Smik explains how there are many volunteers who dedicate their time to the art show to ensure it is a successful event.
“The [Celebration of the Arts] planning committee, along with lots of volunteers (both student and adult) set up the show. We use SignUpGenius to recruit these volunteers [and this year’s]. . . set up will take place on May 1, May 3 and May 4. It involves labeling and prepping all the artwork for display and setting up display panels,” Smik said.
The actual judging of the artwork involves a separate process. The awards include 1st, 2nd and 3rd place as well as honorable mention separated by each grade level and type of class. The winners receive award ribbons given at the awards ceremony. There is also one recipient considered “Best of Show” who receives a two hundred twenty-five dollar Amazon gift card as their award. Junior Tommy Long won the award this year.
“The planning committee recruits individuals not affiliated with the district to judge the high school entries. . . . There were twelve judges. They are split into groups based on their areas of expertise to judge the various categories,” Smik said.
Art teacher Sarah Zustin discussed the part teachers play in art shows and how they contribute. Zustin credits the PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) for the chunk of the show’s success. There is a lot of work to be done and things that need to be planned to ensure the show is successful every year, and the PTSA is very involved in that success.
“Their [Revere art teachers] part in the art show is getting students to submit stuff and then providing the artwork for the PTSA. The PTSA are the ones that really do all of the work. . . . They are really the ones that do the bulk of it. They get everything organized, everything set up, they get all of the judges in to judge. . . . There’s a lot of planning as far as getting the artwork assigned ,. . . getting all of the names of the students and their artwork together,” Zustin said.
Art teacher Robert Pierson, who has been a part of RHS for thirty years explained the importance of the senior booths and how they are set up. Booths can be all one person’s individual work through their high school career or they can share a combined booth to show their work off together. Senior booths have evolved throughout the years and have become one of the main attractions for the art show.
“There is no cost for doing a booth, except you have to make it yourself. It’s part of the charm of it that they are often passed down or sold to other people. . .you’ll see a lot of variety in how they are made. Some people go very thematic, other people it’s more focused on the art work. . . . I think we’re probably the exception when it comes to senior displays,” Pierson said.
Revere High School takes a lot of pride in their Celebration of the Arts show and continues to have a successful show every year. Every student from elementary, middle and high school has the opportunity to showcase their artwork to family, friends and peers. Seniors are given a chance to demonstrate their growth as an artist with their senior booth and inspire others to have their own booth one day. The Celebration of the Arts is a fine tradition for RHS to have and occurred this year on May 6 to May 8.
