Because our students are interested in many modes of expression, for the past decade we have engaged resident artists to guide our students and staff to produce public works of theater, poetry, sculpture, painting and film.
We like using art to push our thinking deeper and explore connections between ideas and people.
There are never point values or grades attached to the art we create, and we always share it with the larger community--often inviting others to join in making something new.
Check out two examples below ...
We like using art to push our thinking deeper and explore connections between ideas and people.
There are never point values or grades attached to the art we create, and we always share it with the larger community--often inviting others to join in making something new.
Check out two examples below ...
EYES WIDE OPEN (above) documents the series of four public art pieces installed in WHS hallways from late winter to spring 2013. A joint effort of the American Studies course and Project '79, the installations posed prompts such as "I wish ..." and "We fear ..." All students, staff, and visitors were invited to complete the phrase in colored chalk. The large, black butcher paper "canvases" were accompanied by dozens of portraits of participants' eyes. The concept of showcasing eyes developed organically from studying literature such as Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Great Gatsby, as well as from thinking about how different ways of seeing the world can have consequences as extreme as war. Showing something about the owner's physical identity, eyes can be windows inward as well as the lenses out. Directed by p79 Teaching Artist Roy Chambers. Score by p79 Musician in Residence Shayfer James.
THE INVISIBLE MAN PROJECT. During the week before Winter Break in December, 2011, Project '79 seniors reading Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man collaborated with teaching-artist-in-residence Mr Roy Chambers to stage their own invisibility installations inspired by Chinese artist Liu Bolin. Choosing locations around the campus of Westfield (NJ) High School, they sought to raise questions about what and whom we don't see during our daily routines--and more specifically, who might feel invisible around "The Holidays."