KSU seniors help high school students with art show

Katie Greenwald

Brandon Moore, an art student at Kent Roosevelt high school, shows his artwork last night at the Kent Stage.

Credit: Andrew popik

Enchanting colors, textures and shapes swirled together to create masterpieces. The walls were covered with art and the smell of brownies filled the warm air as the sound of sweet music echoed in the background, and children tapped tunes into the piano. It was a scene truly fitting of a New York City art show.

But the artists whose work was featured in the show at the Kent Stage last night are not from New York City. They’re from Kent’s Theodore Roosevelt High School.

The senior art education class called Field Experience put on an art show last night to show off the artwork of students whom they have taught throughout the semester.

For the past three years, the class has been teaching students with disabilities at the high school. This was the first art show the class has put on.

The goal was to teach art to the students, but some of the seniors are the ones who learned the lessons.

“It was a good opportunity to learn to be flexible as a teacher,” said Emily Vidd, a senior art education major, who worked with the students this semester.

Fellow student Mickey Westbrook agreed.

“They taught me not to underestimate them,” he said.

The high school students were excited to see their hard work displayed for their family and friends.

“Aw, cool,” said Brandon Moore, one of the artists, as he saw a picture in a scrapbook of one of his masterpieces. “Perfect ice cream stand.”

Katelyn Burt is another of the student artists. She had about six family members admiring her work that explored space and helped her determine differences between shapes.

Russell Standen is one of the high school students who showed his talent through art that involved shaving cream.

When his grandma asked him if he liked it because he could get messy, he said, “Grandma,” with a sarcastic tone, possibly suggesting that was a silly question.

Shane Hart is another of the high school students whose art was featured last night. For one of his works, he was asked to make a piece that showed how he felt about gender roles in society and how he fit in.

He chose to portray a man holding a sheep gently.

The class is important to both Kent State students and Roosevelt students, said Juliann Dorff, the class instructor.

“I think art’s important for all children,” she said. “The art rooms are the only rooms where uniqueness is treasured.”

And without the art room that is created by the Field Experience class, these students wouldn’t have an art room at all. Most of them do not participate in the art classes held for students without disabilities at the high school.

Contact finance reporter Katie Greenwald at [email protected].