'Friends' at Dartmouth High AP art class put on art exhibit

Apr 18, 2016

From flowers to feminism, there was something for everybody at "The One with the Art Show."

On Thursday, April 14, Dartmouth High School's Unified Arts Department and the Dartmouth Historical Arts Society teamed up to hold "The One with the Art Show" exhibit. Inspired by the TV show "Friends," where each episode title began with "The One With...," this tight-knit group of artists showed off a school year's worth of artwork to the public.

Instructed by Christine McFee, the Advanced Placement Studio Art class is made up of eight seniors and one junior. In this college-level course, the students have the opportunity to earn college credit. Their final portfolios will be submitted and evaluated by the College Board and students can earn three to six college credits.

The students must complete 24 "high-caliber, resolved pieces of art work" for the AP exam in one of three areas - drawing, two-dimensional design, or three-dimensional design. The portfolio is broken down into three sections: breadth, examples of quality work, and a concentration. Breadth shows the student's experience with a variety of media; concentration allows the student to narrow their interest to a particular concept and explore that concept in great depth.

Tess Remick, the only junior in the course, focused on her love of flowers. Through a variety of different mediums, Remick depicted flowers in a range of styles from realistic to impressionistic.

Strong women throughout history are what inspired seniors Tessa Remy Miller and Talya Pimental. Remy Miller’s concentration focused on feminism throughout history. She showcased portraits of  twelve "larger-than-life women." The outside of the women’s faces were painted in black and white in contrast to the scenes created inside of their faces, which were done in color. Pimental portrayed women from a variety of different cultures immersed in motifs from their native cultures.

Building off of that theme was senior Nicole Correia who focused on the pressure women face to "fit a certain body mold," she said.

"If not, they are often shamed and ridiculed, usually for things beyond their control," Correia said.

Through a collection of two-dimensional pieces, Correia concentrated on the stresses that these environmental pressures create.

Senior Catherine George focused on "the connections we have as humans with other people." Conversely, senior Reid Santos focused on interactions between people and the world around them through mixed media.

Her ancestors were the focal point of senior Sarah Philpot's paintings. She incorporated technological advances, period-relevant famous quotes, and other important historical discoveries into her paintings. In February, Philpot won an honorable mention for her piece “The Five Stages of…” at UMass Dartmouth's Emerging Young Artists Exhibition.

Three-dimensional pieces of jewelry were how senior Erin Varnum chose to depict the element of growth and transformation through the use of various metals and stones.

The exhibit remained open until Sunday, April 17.