Visual Arts Exploration
ARTS & CULTURE
At the end of my first year, I realized that while there were numerous art-related ExEds, there were not one for visual arts – the field that I am also most passionate about. Therefore, my friends and I decided to together form a new ExEd which invites everyone, especially those who were not taking visual arts as an IB subject but were still interested in the area, to practically explore their passion. We proposed the idea to Melinda and was approved to be started at the beginning of our second year.
In forming a new ExEd, there were a lot of things my friends and I had to take into consideration. We started by creating an outline of the ExEd structure, listing out the sessions we wanted to include whether it was a lecture on art history, demonstration of techniques, or free style art making. We discussed the logistics and assigned the responsibilities to each of the leaders. All of this was done earlier in the year to also be presented during the ExEd Fair.
Brochures I made to promote the ExEd during the ExEd Fair
I was in charge of demonstrating to the participants new art techniques and helping them with their projects. Without guidelines from previous years, the task became tougher than what I had expected. In the beginning, I was not certain how often I should hold the workshops since I believed they would be beneficial to those who have just started art but doing it too often would also restrict those with higher skills from working on their own projects. Eventually, I decided to make the workshops optional for people who were interested and the rest of the group could also choose to work independently. Situations like this were usual in the ExEd. Most of the times, I worked along with the participants, letting them be part of the decision-making process. This way, I would be informed of what worked best as I constructed the foundation of the ExEd.
To showcase the works of the ExEd members to the community and also let them engage in one of the most important processes in being an artist, we occasionally held exhibitions in the atrium, tying them to the festivals around the time, such as Halloween, or events in which the school was holding, such as Winter Concert. During such times, there were also more works on the leaders. I helped the participants in finishing their artworks, coming up with an artist statement, figuring out the exhibition method, and, above everything, setting up the exhibition. My friends and I all worked together in the atrium to put up all the artworks, making changes to the lighting and positions along the way. Sometimes, when there were not enough submitted, I also had to work on decorating the area to fill in the empty spaces and make the exhibition attractive to the audience.
Exhibition on the theme of Halloween
To encourage the ExEd members to engage with art in daily life and also conceive the concepts better with inspirations, my friends and I joined hands with the leader of the Sustainable Fashion Show ExEd – another new visual arts ExEd that was also established this year – in organizing an art field trip to Santa Fe. We visited the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival and observed the Trash Fashion Show. The works exhibited there were those of local students and had largely inspired me with how they were all fabricated from recycled objects. Here, I had the opportunity to talk to the local people in Santa Fe and exchange our ideas about art.
Looking back, the ExEd had pushed me to do a lot of things I never thought I was able to before. Despite being actively engaged in art, I had merely been working independently and only for my own self. This ExEd has introduced me to a whole new community which in turn provided me with another approach towards art that I have greatly enjoyed and am deeply grateful for.
Photos from the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival field trip