Art Brings 2 Students TogetherWorking on a series of portraits of special needs students at Warsaw Community High School, senior Kirsten Schwenger, 18, really got to know Jon Aleman, also 18.
When Aleman died Thursday, it came as a surprise to many, including Schwenger.
"It definitely came as a shock," Schwenger said in an interview Monday morning. "I think I spent the most amount of time with Jon."While creating her art pieces, she took photos of Aleman. Aleman insisted that if Schwenger was going to take pictures of him, he was going to take pictures of her, too, according to Schwenger's visual arts teacher Don Swartzentruber.
"He's funny. He's very sharp. He wanted to be a preacher. He would talk to me about God. He was just really enjoyable," said Schwenger of fellow senior Aleman.
Every time Swartzentruber took his class to the special needs room, Aleman wanted his fair time. Swartzentruber said Aleman wasn't content to just sit in the back. He would give them a spelling quiz or preach to them. The last time Swartzentruber took his Drawing I class to the special needs room, Aleman just wanted to pray with them.
"There's a time to teach and a time to preach, but there's also a time to just pray," said Swartzentruber.
At the start of the school year, Schwenger had to create a portfolio of eight pieces for Swartzentruber's Studio Art class. The pieces had to be cohesive and were entered into the Scholastic Arts Show. Schwenger said Swartzentruber helped her come up with the idea of working with the special needs students.
As a result of Schwenger's work, she won the Gold Key award at Scholastic regionals. At nationals, she earned the Silver Key. Swartzentruber said that's a big deal.
"I was actually pretty shocked," Schwenger said of her awards.
Swartzentruber said Schwenger is a hard worker and very good at paying special attention to detail. He said he knew her strength was portrait work and would be very good at getting the details in.
Schwenger said she started work on the series at the beginning of this school year and spent a full semester on it. The time for each portrait varied, she said, depending on how focused she was on it at the time.
To do the series of portraits of the special needs students, Schwenger said she went into their classroom. She took a few days to watch and sketch the students.
"I tried to get to know each student as best as I could," she said.
"Kirsten is academically a strong student. She's involved in theater a lot too," Swartzentruber said. She is committed to art, he said, and it seems like art is something she really wants to pursue.
"There was a strong spiritual connection between Jon and Kirsten. She's gone on a lot of mission trips. You didn't know Jon without knowing that (spiritual) part of him," said Swartzentruber.
"He loved God so much," said Schwenger.
Jon Aleman was born April 20, 1991, in Allegan, Mich., to Michael Allen and Cynthia Diana Bothwell Aleman. A resident of Kosciusko County the past two years, he attended Hope Church in Atwood.
He suffered from xxxxx and died from complications of the disease.
Aleman had a way of dropping hints about different things, Swartzentruber said. He would say stuff about wanting a tie.
Schwenger said Swartzentruber had a tie with Salvador Dali's famous melting clocks on it. One day Swartzentruber had Schwenger give Aleman the tie. He wore it every day after that, even if he was just wearing a t-shirt. Schwenger is helping to make up a t-shirt with the tie's design on it now.
Swartzentruber helped Schwenger come up with a permission slip for the special needs students to participate. Schwenger said she wanted parents to know why she chose the series and that she would treat the students and the work with respect.
Each portrait involves paint splatter. Swartzentruber said Schwenger's work isn't traditional. There's a strong investigation in the design itself. He said Schwenger wanted to experiment with color and push the traditional boundaries. She said she didn't want to correspond colors in the series too well.
As for the series of portraits of the special needs students, Schwenger said she wants to make a print of each one to give to the student and their family.
Schwenger's award-winning work will be displayed at the Tri Kappa Art Show later this year, Swartzentruber said. Schwenger also will use her series to apply to colleges.
