The senior art show was held on Monday, March 5 in the Mary Katherine Loyacono McCravey Art Gallery.  Seniors who displayed their own work are either in Advanced Placement Art, Advanced Art, Photography, or Art I. Some seniors have been building their portfolios since eleventh grade, but the artwork showcased is what they have been working on this year.  

Dr. Lynn Miller, who teaches the AP class, said, “They have been working on every work for years because all their previous classes helped make them the artist they are today.  The most recent work is usually the strongest which is why some of these pieces may still have paint drying when we hang them.” Each student was invited to choose the works that they thought best showed their viewpoint as an artist. Prep’s Visual Arts Department’s hope is for students to be able to develop their own artistic voice.  

Dr. Miller has had some of the seniors in the art show as her students for all three of her years at Jackson Prep, so she will miss seeing their names on her class rolls and their faces in her class.  Members of the Class of 2018 have been so supportive of each other as they have grown as artists, but they do not mind being a little sharp with each other if need be. Each senior class has set expectations for the following art classes.  While the Class of 2017 set a high bar, the current seniors have exceeded it and have risen to challenge the classes that follow them. The Visual Art Department can only grow from here.

Current juniors have already begun their Advanced Placement portfolios while developing their own styles and medias.  Individuality is shown in their work. Dr. Miller has high hopes for the Class of 2019 as well. “I feel sure that next year’s Senior Show will be just as exciting as this year’s, but completely different from either 2017 or 2018.”

Beth Ann Young, one of the featured artists this year, said “Originally, I thought it would be an easy A, which I later found to be extremely false, but I also wanted to see if it’s something I could actually do. I’ve always wanted to be a good artist, but I was really only capable of upscale stick figures until now.”  

The students’ artwork will be hanging in the Mary Katherine Loyacono McCravey Art Gallery until the end of March, so everyone should swing by to admire it.