Theme #7

Amber Pokorney
Theme #7
Art Show/Honors Art

It is that time of year again, the middle of May. My birthday is coming up and so is my other favorite event. The district art show. This year, is a special one to me though; I’m turning 16 and, I’m in honors art with Mr. Miller. It may seem strange but, I am more excited about the show than my birthday. I have been waiting 10 years, since kindergarten, for this very May.
I had just moved here away from my family and best friend in Florida in February, 1998. By the time May came around I was so excited that I would be turning six years old. After all, once you hit that point you’re totally a big kid right. For my birthday I had a Sailormoon themed party and my grandma bought me one of those cool translucent gameboys. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, especially with the addition of Pokemon Red for me to play.
Only a few days later my grandmother decided to take me over to the high school to see the art show. She knew how much I loved art even at that young age so, she felt it would be a wonderful thing for me. I was as excited as a six year old could be when she told me we were going. The show was in the high school, like it still is, and being so young my imagination went wild when we got there. The school was monstrous in size I though and all of the ‘big highschoolers’ looked like grown-ups to me.
Right as we go to the show I took off down the stairwell in the circle gym to these gargantuan panels at the far side of the floor. I knew the work over there was done by all of the high school art students. It was so strange over there though; there were no other little kids like me. Everyone analyzing the high school work was so much bigger than me. All of the other children seemed frightened to go over there. I don’t blame them though; some of the work was pretty intense. But none of the work frightened me; I was completely enthralled by it. All I wanted was to be a part of it.
The show ran for two days (just as it still does now) so, I even had my grandmother take me back the following evening just so I could see all of the artwork again. This time, I paid closer attention to detail and I started to notice that each panel had a sketchbook in front of it. Being a curious little kid, I started looking through every last one. Some of them were colorful and cheery while other, were dark and covered in broken glass or mirror shards. It still didn’t frighten me; it was even more alluring the second time around.
While I was standing there completely enveloped by colors, textures, and patterns of all the art I came to the realization that, I wanted to be one of those ‘big art kids’. Because of my slight eavesdrooping I learned that the art teacher's name was Mr. David Miller and that I would need to be a sophomore to take his class and earn a panel of my own.
Since that first art show in kindergarten I’ve been waiting patiently in anticipation for my sophomore year to come. Now, that year is coming to an end and the show is in roughly two weeks. Over the course of this school year I have been buzzing around like a worker bee; stressing and creating some art work that I am extremely proud of. Of course, I am not happy with everything that I have done this year but, what artist truly is? If an artist was to be completely content with all of his work, he would not be much of an artist at all. It is natural for an artist to be unhappy with the work he has produced and, I fall into the category of artists who feel that way. But, as stated by Sol Lewitt in his ‘Sentences on Conceptual Art’, “Perception is subjective.” Even though an artist may hate their own work another being may find it to be completely astounding and thought provoking. It all depends on your perspective.
Right now, I am stressing and these next two weeks are probably the most important for me this year. I need to crank out some of the best work that I can in order to prove myself to Mr. Miller. I have worked as hard as possible this year to reach the goal I have had for 10 years. In the Wissahickon Art Show, honors art students are given anywhere from one half to three panels in the show to display their work. I am aiming for two. This year, I have reached my goal. This year, it’s finally my turn to shine.