Showcasing Warsaw Community High School students’ art in various forms, the annual Tri Kappa Arts Festival took place Thursday night in the Performing Arts Center with hundreds of attendees.
The free public event featured a short film festival, performances by the hip-hop dance team and jazz band, as well as dance students getting their groove on in the auditorium.
During the full three-hour event, the Tri-Kappa Art Exhibit was open to the public in the Black Box Theater.
Two of the students displaying their art work were seniors Jesse Miller and Zoe Marshall. Friends, they both plan to attend Saint Francis College in Fort Wayne.
For his art work, Miller won a third place, honorable mention and purchase award.
“I did kind of a story about a bunch of robots. I used Photoshop for pretty much the whole thing just to give images to back up a story. I’ve been planning it for awhile,” Miller said.
His story and art follows one particular robot to give it a center piece. There are different characters and factions in his work. The robots are fighting against their robot government after a cataclysmic episode.
“I have magazine bits, advertisements, files for some of the robots,” Miller said.
The purchase award was for his art of his centerpiece, “Clockwork.” The display got the third place award, while his favorite piece received the honorable mention.
“I’m actually happy about, it’s my favorite. It’s the most technically sound,” Miller said of the honorable mention piece.
After graduating WCHS, he plans to study computer art at Saint Francis.
“I’d love to be able to turn digital art into movies or like models. Working for other people, doing robots. I love robots a little too much. I’m OK with other things, too, I guess,” he said.
Marshall won best of show and senior showcase award.
Her work is based mostly on fantasy creatures.
“They’re sort of emotions a little bit. Each one has their own little mood,” she said.
She spent 25 to 35 hours on each piece. Each is made of clay, but not all the same kinds of clay.
At Saint Francis, she plans to study studio art, as well as play in the jazz and pep bands.
Marshall attributed her success in part to her teachers at WCHS.
“My teachers have been excellent, especially Mr. (Don) Swartzentruber. He knows when to kick you in the butt when you need it and when to be encouraging when you need it so it’s been helpful,” she said.
Swartzentruber said, “Zoe and Jesse are two AP studio art students. Both of them share something interesting in that both of them are very narrative in their work so when you look at their work – even though one’s working in ceramics and the other’s working in digital – they’re very much about story. We’re very proud of all our AP students, they’ve all done a really good job this year. We’re very proud of all our students in the festival.”
For a video of interviews with Marshall and Miller, visit the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com
Also during the festival, various solo and small group performances performed on a small stage in the rotunda.
Appetizers and refreshments were served by culinary arts students. Latin students displayed mosaics and other historical visual projects, while the textile classes displayed quilts and projects. The design processes classes displayed silk screen T-shirts.
Spectators found a display of art books in the media center, a Myrna Eisenbraun exhibit in the display cases and demonstrations of the potter’s wheel, painting and stone carvings.
