The Wakefield High School art students have made their name known this year, securing copious local and regional art awards across a variety of categories. These hard-working individuals put forth their passion for their respective art mediums at the Women’s Club of Raleigh and Wake Forest Art Shows, as well as the Scholastics Art Regional Competition.
The success these young artists have earned has been attributed to not only their individual talents, but the support they’ve garnered from peers and teachers in their art classes. Piper Marshburn is a senior at Wakefield who has been participating in the art classes our school offers since her freshman year. She was awarded 1st place in fabric crafts, creative stitchery, acrylic painting and oil painting. She recognizes and appreciates the support she’s received from teachers and peers that led her to this moment.
“[Art classes] have provided a space that’s open and creative,” Marshburn said. “You’re surrounded by people who are all doing the same thing you are, but doing it in different ways and having different thoughts and ideas. It’s fun to bounce that off one another.”
Art classes push students to practice new types of art, widening their skillset and strengthening their technique. Mackenzie Book, another senior who has been immensely engaged in Wakefield’s art program, also found great success in these competitions, being awarded 1st place in color pencil at both the Raleigh and Wake Forest art shows. She elaborates that the experience she’s acquired from these classes led her to improve significantly.
“We [use] a lot of different materials, we get to work with clay and they make us do all the different mediums,” Book said. “It definitely challenged me because I’ve had to draw things that I didn’t want to necessarily draw. [The art teachers] challenged us, and we had to actually step out of our comfort zone.”
All of this could not be done without the behind-the-scenes support of Wakefield’s art teachers. Dawn Valentino has been an art teacher at Wakefield for all of its 25 years and is a huge proponent for the myriad benefits art classes can have on any student. She points out that art can help them in more aspects of life than most people may think.
“Art is really the basis for a lot of critical thinking skills,” Valentino said. “[Artists] are great problem solvers since they’re able to use those skills in other areas of their lives.”
For many of these driven students, art is more than just a hobby or an elective class; It’s a passionate way of expressing themselves and connecting with others. Malina Snead is a senior at Wakefield who conveys her strong love for art.
“I’ve been doing art for a while,” Snead said. “It’s my way of expressing myself. I enjoy it, it’s my hobby, it’s my everything.”
Snead was excited to see she was recognized for her own pieces. She was awarded 1st and 2nd place in district awards throughout multiple schools for her digital art, including 1st place in computer graphics. After all of her diligent work, she felt honored to be appreciated in this way.
“I was going through the [school] with my sister, and she’s like, ‘Hey, is that yours?’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my work is showcased,’” Snead said. “It just felt good to know that my idea was not only agreed upon with other people, but they could relate to it in a way.”
The well-deserved recognition these students received should inspire many to participate in art classes and exercise their creativity. No matter what art medium an individual may choose, this should be a testament that it can still be appreciated. Valentino encourages any and all creative students to try their hand at visual art, especially if they’re shy or looking for connections. She emphasizes that the benefits could be immeasurable.
“Most of the students who were selected to participate in the local and regional art shows are students that typically are not noticed in other areas in school,” Valentino said. “I think [art] is important in showcasing their skill sets; whether it be in a display case out in the front of the school, or their upcoming art sale. [Art] is really important in allowing students to nurture and shine in ways that they may not normally.”
