Exhibition

Participation in art programs is associated with learning gains in many areas. The National Arts Education Public Awareness program is a partnership between Americans for the Arts and the Ad Council. According to the organization’s website, www.americansforthearts.org, “Kids who are involved in the arts are:

• Four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement

• Three times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools

• Four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair

• Three times more likely to win an award for school attendance

The district’s art program dispels the myth that art is just a hobby, says Cole.

It builds on relationships between artistic expression and core subjects such as language arts, math and science. Students transform things they have been learning since kindergarten into design, and they learn about making design work with their pieces.

“You need to know chemistry to understand how different paints interact with paper and their relationships with each other,” Cole says. “Oils do not mix the same way as tempera paints or watercolor. In photography, understanding angles and lighting can make or break a photo. Composition is storytelling – it is language arts. The math concepts of ratio, perspective and engineering are critical concepts in the visual and industrial arts; that is STEM.”

Artwork on the page is rotated monthly. Between the two high schools, five or six student artists are featured each month. In February alone, there were 43 images on the site, encompassing oil painting, tempera painting, charcoal and graphite drawing, mixed media, and photography. A brief explanation of the assignment accompanies each image.

Work from Dan Yeager’s photography and integrated technology students at

Pickerington High School Central was posted on the site, along with pieces from students of Craig Huffman and Matt Young at Central and images created by student artists in North’s advance studio art class. There are plans to make PLSD Art Scene multidisciplinary — adding animation, Web productions and performance art such as theater.

“We want to create a kind of ‘Gallery Hop’ experience online,” says Cole.

Central Ohio, and especially Columbus, has a thriving arts community, with Columbus College of Art and Design, OSU Urban Arts Space, the Columbus Cultural Arts Center and active arts centers in many surrounding suburbs. PLSD Art Scene provides a way for students to begin engaging with that artistic community.

It introduces students to the rigors of creative careers, where attention to detail in execution, meeting deadlines and following guidelines are important. The program also provides the pride of accomplishment that comes with seeing artwork showcased in a public forum.

This is only the beginning of PLSD Art Scene, Chappelear says.

“A couple of our students have communicated with CCAD,” he says. “We expect that it will grow as we reach out to other colleges and let them know.”

Pickerington art teachers and students invite the community to visit PLSD Art Scene on Facebook at http://on.fb. me/zG8qvg. Visitors will enjoy viewing the images, but they will also be struck by the thoughtful compositions and the impressive quality of execution the students have achieved. Art is sometimes

By Ashley Hull, North Senior – Painting

overlooked when it comes to high school curriculum, but this sampling leaves no doubt that in Pickerington schools, art serves as a means of integrating and expressing learning.

With this new program, PLSD illustrates that it is at the leading edge of secondary education in the arts. That’s something the entire community can appreciate.

Pickerington resident Brenda Layman is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@pubgroupltd.com.

By Carly Kohake