Students express their art at The Edge

By Rhiannon leal

Features and entertainment

In March, students such as Serenity Sterdivant-Richardson and Oliver Starita were selected to have their artwork displayed at The Edge in Crete.

“I wanted to showcase an array of work from both of my 2D art courses:  Art 1 and Painting/Drawing. My goal was to represent a variety of styles, skill levels, and creative voices so that many students could see their work displayed in a public space,” Ms. Ores said.

Serenity Sterdivant Richardson, a senior, was one of the many students who got picked for this award. Serenity has taken art classes throughout her high school career, is in the art club, and also plays an instrument. She created a piece that used forced perspective, and Ms. Ores, the Crete-Monee art teacher, chose it to be displayed on the wall at the edge, where anyone can go to observe it.

“So the idea I wanted to do, for the perspective project, I wanted to do, like, a library, so I wanted to do kind of, like, a bigger room, and I wanted it to have, like, multiple levels, so I kind of developed, like, the library idea,” Sterdivant Richardson said. “It's really cool. I feel like other people can see it. I'm excited to, like, show my mom and my sister, so I feel proud."

These pieces will be displayed at the edge for the entire month of March, and will be open to the entire public. The Edge is a coffee shop on Main Street in Crete that has many different art pieces from local and non-local artists.

“this gives young artists a chance to show others their beautiful art,” Ms. Ores said.

There will be up to six different pieces of artwork at The Edge that CMHS students made.

”Displaying student artwork shows students that their ideas and creative efforts matter. It celebrates the time, effort, and problem-solving that go into making art. Public displays also help students take pride in their work and encourage them to continue developing their artistic skills,” Ms. Ores said.

Oliver Starita, a junior, is another young artist who got picked to show off his work. He worked on it for a couple of weeks and ended up finishing a piece that got awarded by Ms. Ores, also getting him student of the month. Starita has also been taking art classes for two years and is in the art club.

“It feels really cool to have my artwork featured anywhere. I've never had it, like, featured in any kind of other gallery and stuff, it's an eye-opening experience,” Starita said. “I love doing art. Art is, like, truly one of the most beautiful things that we, as a species, have ever, like, conceptualized."