Penn-Trafford High School is featuring two different art showcases this year: a permanent senior display by the art department and a temporary gallery by the art club.
For the sixth consecutive year, the art department is requesting submissions for its permanent art display. This display will feature one chosen artwork from the class of 2025.
The submitted artwork can be 11-inch-by-14-inch or 22-inch-by-28-inch. It must be a 2D artwork — this includes photography, digital, painting and printmaking. Seniors can submit up to three pieces for consideration. If there are submissions from multiple students, then the senior class can vote on which one they feel best represents them.
“We haven’t had much photography,” art teacher Brenda Christeleit stated, “so we could do that and everybody could take a picture that best represents [their] class. It could be any subject you want that’s school appropriate.”
Christeleit was inspired to do this display by a tradition at her alma mater, Greater Latrobe Senior High School, in which their graduating class selected a painting from the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh that they felt best represented them as a group.
“It looked like a museum — beautiful things,” she added, “and it’s a real part of their history.”
The first year that the display was held at P-T was 2020, and the selection was a painting of a senior wearing a face mask.
The selected artwork will be framed, lit and hung permanently with a plaque that has the artist’s name, the title of the work and the graduating year. The deadline to submit is April 30, and the art will be displayed in the hallway between P-T’s main office and guidance office.
Additionally, the art club is hosting its first student art gallery. This event allows students to submit their artwork for a $5 payment with the added benefit of being able to sell their pieces for prices of their choosing. At the door, there is a $10 admission fee for friends, family and people from the community — however, this fee is waived for students with art in the gallery.
“We really just want students to have an opportunity, even if you’re not in an art class, to have an outlet to show their art,” Spanish teacher and art club advisor Nicole Burtch stated, “because there’s a lot of talented art students who aren’t in art classes.”
Conceived by junior art club president Raine Simpson, the gallery is designed to give students a platform to show their artistic talents with the school and community and to potentially make a profit from their work. Types of art that can be submitted include traditional paintings and drawings, as well as photography, sculpture and pottery; students can submit no more than five pieces of art. The deadline to submit is May 1.
“Students get to pick the price [of their art], and they are keeping 100 percent of the funds from their art piece,” Simpson noted.
The art gallery will be held in the Media Center on May 12 from 6-8 p.m. A bake sale will be held there as well, in which people can purchase baked goods while viewing the art.
“[The gallery] is a chance for the community to come in and see what the students are doing, and possibly purchase something new and fun for their home or as a gift,” Burtch said.
Abby Dreistadt, Editor in Chief