PHS Students Showing Love With Art Show and FundraiserBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
07:36AM / Sunday, January 28, 2024 | |
 Art teacher Lisa Ostellino says some of the works will be part of the AP seniors' final portfolios on the theme of 'sustained investigations.' |
Students in teacher Lisa Ostellino's class work on their projects. 'For the Love of Art' will also include senior portfolios, drawings, paintings, photography and other ceramic work.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield High School students are spreading the love with an art show and fundraiser before Valentine's Day.
The "For the Love of Art" exhibit will debut at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts on Friday, Feb. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., showcasing students' midway senior portfolios, drawings and paintings, photography, and ceramic works. The show will stay up for one week.
It is the artists' way of showing their passions while helping others.
"It is a mid-year senior portfolio where the kids are going to present their sustained investigations, their portfolios that they've been working on which is essentially the concentration for their senior year," art teacher Lisa Ostellino explained.
"We are also combining it with some of the other classes and the focus is on the love of art. And we always try to give back something to the community so there's a nationwide project that's called the Empty Bowls Project, where you basically make handmade bowls and you serve soup for a donation for those homemade bowls."
The students are making the bowls and a packaged soup will go with them while supplies last. All proceeds go to the St. Joseph's/Christian Center food pantry.
While some of the art will be on theme, senior Advanced Placement students will show parts of their portfolios and other work that they are proud of.
AP art students choose a "sustained investigation" theme and at the end of the course will exhibit a body of related works that demonstrate an inquiry-based sustained investigation of materials, processes, and ideas through practice, experimentation, and revision.
The February event is somewhat of a preparation for their senior art show in May and a preview of what can be expected.
"When she told us the assignment, we were all on board," senior Katarena Castagna said. "We are all really excited."
Castagna's concentration is the juxtaposition of the sun and moon through sculptures.
While making a bowl for the fundraiser, senior Maddie Penna said her concentration is centered around nostalgia for objects and having a personal connection to the early 2000s.
Many of the pieces are done with acrylic paint and subjects include a baby photo and skiers.
Senior Britain Sadowy is concentrating her portfolio on the complexity of her family and how she fits into it, at the time working on a watercolor portrait.
Ostellino explained that part of the AP class is about sharing the works with the public and figuring out how to display them.
"We create in a bubble and it's really cool when you get it out to the public," she said.
The PHS culinary department will be providing the soup for the fundraiser, though the flavors have not been decided on yet. About 30 unique bowls have been made already.
The opening ceremony will also include a performance from orchestra students.
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