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Cathie Campbell
CCAMPBELL@SIERRASTAR.COM
CATHIE CAMPBELL/SIERRA STAR
Samantha Hemman, Rhiannon Smith and Courtnie Reist organize items for
sale in the Badger Gallery Gift Shop at Yosemite High School.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Mike Davis just had a showing of his “abstract expressionistic” art at
the YHS Badger Gallery.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
King Tut would have been proud of this rendition of Egyptian art, prepared
by YHS students.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
An example of the creative poster art promoting one of the Art Club’s
shows.
Step
into a world of color, of movement, of unleashed imagination that runs
over the edge. Is this a world of electronic video games or midway carnivals?
No, it’s better than that — it’s the Badger Gallery!
In just one school year, the Art Club at Yosemite High School has accomplished
a great deal. The group raised enough money to give six art-student lab
fee scholarships, hung and hosted the “This is Who I Am” show in September
and took the months of October through January to redesign the entire
gallery.
They also started a new branch of the Art Club: The Anime Club, which
is a group of students who are illustrating an anime magazine. So far
this year, that section of the club has organized four fund-raisers to
raise money to attend next year’s anime convention in the Los Angeles
area.
Further accomplishments include welcoming 12 new members into the Badger
Gallery for next year and the recruitment of students from the local junior
high schools to run for office.
“This year, we have raised enough funds through our art card and small
gift items to offer eight student scholarships for next school year,”
said YHS art instructor Rivka Schaffner, who is also the Art Club moderator
and Art Department chairperson (Most people refer to her as “Ms. Rivka”).
“We have also donated $100 worth of artwork to the Career Center to give
visiting guest speakers a card pack thank-you gift. We’ve also added a
rubber stamp and new stationery design to label our products so people
receiving our cards will know where the art piece came from.
“This has generated more visitors to our space. This year we have collected
over 1800 guest book signatures from people who have visited our campus
gallery shows.”
Ms. Schaffner added that parents of the student artists are “very excited
that we are promoting and honoring their children’s art in a professional
arena.”
The Badger Gallery has gained statewide fame and Delane Easton (state
Department of Education) was very impressed, saying this is the only school
she has ever visited that offers a student gallery space. The students
make all the decisions and do all the work to keep this nonprofit organization
open.
“At the grand re-opening we hung and hosted the ‘Art 2 Recent Works’ show,”
said Ms. Schaffner, along with having four booths at the Renaissance Faire.
We offered candle making, body art, paper making and art products produced
by YHS students. This year alone, we have added over 400 new art images
to our card selection.”
The group then hung and hosted the “AP/Studio Favorites” show. From this
show, they generated interest from parents of other Mountain Area high
schools. Gallery space is now open to students from the Sierra High School
AP/Studio program.
Also, amazing connections were made with elementary school students from
Coarsegold. The YHS art group exchanged the firing of clay tiles for a
PTA fund-raiser for booth space at the Coarsegold Country Fair. That fund-raiser
was a wall of more than 60 tiles with hand impressions, with each tile
selling for $5 each.
At the art club booth, money was raised for art scholarships to be given
to underprivileged students. The group also met the head of the charitable
organization affiliated with a local nationwide business. That person
chose the YHS Art Department as her next charity. The club is asking for
two new flat files to store AP/Studio students’ portfolios.
Another activity was hanging and hosting the “Tool be or Knot 2B” art
show. “This was very exciting, gaining five new club members just from
that show,” said Ms. Schaffner, “We also got the woodshop involved in
helping us generate enough sawdust to cover the entire floor two inches
thick — that is a lot of sawing!”
Ms. Schaffner adds that it was their most successful show for new students
coming to the gallery for their first time. “We think the free licorice
knots helped bring in new visitors that came for the candy and stayed
for the art. We now have decided to have candy and goodies at all our
opening parties!”
A recent art show, “Mike Davis Art,” featured Mike’s colorful abstract
expressionist paintings, packed with so much energy they seem to literally
move right before your eyes. Mike Davis invitations to his premier show
had been passed out to family, students and local galleries that have
donated supplies for the show. A new show is now in place, “The Air Show,”
which showcases the art of the Art1 students as a group.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Badger Gallery was invited to show
at the booth of a local artist at the Peddlers Fair held in Coarsegold.
All of this helps to increase the community’s awareness of the YHS art
gallery and raise more funds to add additional scholarships for this fall
semester.
The Art Club recently held a tea party to celebrate the hard work everyone
put into making the gallery a successful club that gives back to the community
and also honors the community’s students. A woman from Japan was present
to lend an air of authenticity to the event, and she poured tea in a traditional
style, much to everyone’s delight.
Activities don’t come to a screeching halt the instant school lets out
for the summer, as evidenced by a summer project the group has taken on,
in conjunction with the Vision Academy of the Arts, to repair the graffiti
damage done to the YHS student mural created on Crane Valley Road [426].
“One more thing,” adds Ms. Schaffner. “I just received a call from the
Art Department chair of McClain High School in Fresno. Our Badger Gallery
was recommended to them to visit, in hopes to help inspire a similar club
to be created on their campus to get the Art Department off and running.
How cool is that? Schools inspiring schools to obtain a higher goal!”
Inspiration, indeed. Come by the Badger Gallery and get inspired by the
works of art created by our community’s own youth. Buy a few greeting
cards portraying original art and help support this exciting venture.
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