People poured in to see the "Next Wave: Surf the Saw” exhibit by Warsaw Community Schools students  Friday at  Atelier, 104 E. Center St., Warsaw.
The exhibition includes handcrafted and painted stand-up paddleboards, longboards, wakeboards and skate decks, as well as film, sculpture, painting and installation art.
Warsaw Area Career Center instructor Andrea Miller said her second-year design students are trained to make surfboards, skateboards, paddleboard, wakeboard and snowboards as part of the class, so they tried to get as many of those board designed and made so they could be part of the exhibit. Some of the students were in the process of creating the work in the fall, while others started in January, “so it really took an entire school year. And we had some students come in over the summer to wrap things up and tidy up the exhibit,” Miller said.

    The "Next Wave: Surf the Saw” exhibit at Atelier, 104 E. Center St., Warsaw, started Friday and goes through Aug. 31. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union
  

Miller said she believes about 32 students particated in the exhibit.
WACC Principal and Director Ben Barkey said the design class is the best kept secret at the high school because if more students knew about it, there would be more interest in the class because “we are a town of lakes and streams” and being able to your own product is a good thing.
Miller is part of the Warsaw Public Arts Commission and Atelier Director Sea Grandon expressed an interest in working with the public schools and high school students.
After Grandon finished her first year with Atelier open, Grandon came back to Miller to see if “we wanted to do a surf shack scene and if I felt we could make the display happen because the work is different than something that hangs on a wall or is put on a pedestal.”
Grandon said she and Miller have worked on several things together and when Grandon found out what Miller did, it seemed like a fitting summer show to have a group show about surfing and student work. She wanted to have students experience being in a professional gallery show. In correlation with that, she said she’s trying to show what’s interesting and unique about where we live.
“And so I thought the natural beauty of our lakes and all the recreational opportunities with our lakes would be a good thing to focus on, so I thought ‘Surf the Saw’ was the way to go,” Grandon said.
Miller said this is the first time her students have done an exhibit and having an exhibit at a gallery of Atelier’s caliber and at the level of display is unique.
Miller said, during the process of doing the pieces for the exhibit, she saw students practice and start to learn the employability skills so many employers talk about. Building a board is not a simple, straightforward task and many of the students would have to practice, redesign, revisit and persevere through the struggle and troubleshooting it takes to make a final, finished project.

    Warsaw Area Career Center instructor Andrea Miller talks to people during the "Next Wave: Surf the Saw” exhibit at Atelier, 104 E. Center St., Warsaw, Friday. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union
  

Student “Kai” Leighton Hackworth said the process of creating a piece for the exhibit took a lot of trial and error.
Hackworth created a structural piece for the exhibit, which was a 3-foot fishing lure called “The Bate and Switch.” Part of the process in creating it included a big block of styrofoam and carving it into the correct shape. It took Hackworth a few months to create the project.
At the exhibit’s opening Friday, Grandon thought the exhibit was going well. There were a lot of people there of various ages and backgrounds, “which is what I love about the gallery. I want it to be a community gathering place and I think we’ve achieved that tonight.”
On Friday, students were at the exhibit to discuss their work. Grandon said some sales were even made.
Miller hopes those attending the exhibit like what they see and can feel the energy and excitement the students put into the work, as well as appreciate the work it takes to make a good finished product.
Grandon hopes the students are thrilled by the presentation and motivated to keep pursuing their dream and doing creative work. She hopes the guests to the gallery are impressed by the caliber of work and talent in “our own community.”
Barkey said the gallery show is really special and he has a lot of pride for the work the students did.
Hackworth said he thought the exhibit turned out really well. He’s happy for the opportunity the gallery gives not only to existing artists, but potential artists as well.
The exhibit will be at Atelier Gallery through Aug. 31 (Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.).