From March 2 to March 6, NHP celebrated Art Week, a nationwide initiative for students and teachers from elementary schools to high schools, to express their creativity and artistic skills through various forms of art, such as photography, painting, digital art and many others.
“We host Art Week each year as a way to draw attention to all of the amazing things we do in the art department, but also be able to show our entire school that there are simple ways to appreciate art and be creative every day! It’s an opportunity to express our school to artists, art movements and art vocabulary that they may never have known,” Ms. Livoti said. “We also take over the art hallways with murals and art displays that showcase the incredible talents of our art students. The week encourages themed dress up days to connect art to our daily lives by simply finding art in the things we wear. We hope students and faculty take away a new appreciation for art, and we hope students are inspired to continue to take art classes and find their hidden talents and embrace their creativity.”
To bring these concepts to life, each day of the week consisted of a unique theme. Kicking off the week with Medieval Monday, students and faculty wore capes and armor to school. To compliment the capes and armor, the art department offered plastic crowns so everyone could feel like royalty. Shifting to modern artists, Typography Tuesday celebrated Robert Indiana, a renowned American artist who was best known for his “LOVE” sculpture, by wearing anything with words, letters or logos. There was a pop of color in the middle of the week with students dressed in their favorite colors from head to toe on Color Wheel Wednesday, celebrating Sonia Delaunay, a famous artist who was known for her modern and colorful artwork. The week could not end without paying tribute to the classics as students embraced Ansel Adam’s famous photography technique of black, gray and white images on Photography Thursday. Floral Friday was inspired by Frida Kahlo, featuring outfits with floral patterns. Students and faculty were able to take a picture with the Frida Mural in the art hallway.
“My favorite part of art week was creating my own costumes and seeing everyone else’s cool costumes,” senior Matthew Batting said.
The excitement for self-expression during the week was shared across all grades. Each day allowed students to wear something different from their everyday clothes, either encouraging students to step out of their comfort zone or providing a chance to don something they’ve been waiting to wear.
“I enjoyed celebrating Frida Floral Friday because I was able to wear floral designs with my friends and have a great time overall,” sophomore Yunqi Zhang said.
“My favorite part about art week was getting to see how creative I could become with my outfits throughout the week. I found some things that I don’t usually wear to be kind of nice,” junior Lloyd Thater said.
By the end of week, NHP showed how art week fosters creativity and expression in students and provided a pop of color and inspiration to the building.
