Plexiglass artworks created by advanced art students now line the Benjamin Logan High School auditorium. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR)
Vibrant and beautifully-designed works of stained glass style art will soon be lighting up the Benjamin Logan High School auditorium, starting with productions this spring, as a result of the creative efforts of upper level art pupils, with support from a visiting artist, an Ohio Arts Council grant and several other student groups.
BLHS art educator Jennifer Davis said during the last several months, eight juniors and seniors in her Art III and Portfolio classes — Courtney Bowers, Lahna Cook, Taytum Daniels, Nora Elliott, Lauren Hemmelgarn, Izzy Henderson, Nadiya Powell and Kamryn Ridge — have each created one of their own original large-scale pieces of plexiglass art. Their artworks have been installed in the auditorium for permanent display.
“The pieces add so much color in this space and are all so unique,” Director of Administrative Services Sally Stolly said Monday morning while checking out the new artworks, following their installation by custodian Dennis Wells.
“I love how they turned out; they are a wonderful addition to the auditorium and are going to be beautiful when they’re all lit up,” Principal Annette Ramga-Alatorre agreed.
The advanced art students worked under the direction and expert guidance of visiting artist Richard Duarte Brown, whose residency is funded by a $12,600 Ohio Arts Council TeachArts Ohio Grant “Creations Making Connections” that Mrs. Davis received.
The Columbus-based artist has a passion and enthusiasm for youth arts programming and is also the 2022 recipient of the Governor’s Award for the Arts.
This public art display is one of several major projects that Mr. Brown is assisting with this school year, while he visits BLHS one day per week throughout 2023-24.
Designing and creating the auditorium artworks has been a fun and challenging endeavor, Mrs. Davis said, noting that working on plexiglass “was a new avenue for all of us,” including the visiting artist.
The 4-feet by 20-inch artworks were originally going to be featured on wood panels, but a generous, surprise donation of plexiglass from Dwayne Walk to the school district changed up the project.
“Dwayne contacted school board member Mark Himmeger, and mentioned that he had scrap plexiglass that he wanted to donate to us. That made for a very valuable donation toward this project,” Mrs. Davis said.
The eight artworks each feature a different theme, which Tri-M music honorary students developed. The themes are: choir, concert band, jazz band, show choir, theatre, unique instruments, set design and marching band.
“The Tri-M music students helped to brainstorm ideas for each of the artworks, and some even drew some small sketches,” Mrs. Davis said. “It was a great to see the visual art students and music students to get to work together and get to know one another; their paths might not cross so much in their regular classes.”
Vo-ag students also assisted with by effort by cutting the plexiglass and wood backing for the artworks.
After designing and sketching out their ideas, the challenge was then creating a large-scale look for the pieces and also incorporating the sectioning to make it look like stained glass, Mrs. Davis noted.
“Also when we were drawing on the panels, we had to draw all of the designs in reverse. For the music notes, this was especially tricky, and we brought in music students to make sure we had them drawn correctly.
“We also had to paint the plexiglass in layers to give it the stained glass effect.”
During the upcoming weeks, the works of art will have lighting installed behind them to give a stained glass effect, allowing them to brightly show in the auditorium space.
“They might be on a timer, so that they can be dimmed just before a performance starts,” Mrs. Davis.
In addition to the plexiglass donation from Walk and Wells’ expert installation work, the art educator also expressed her appreciation to the Benjamin Logan administration for their continuing support of these large-scale art projects on campus.
“I’m so thankful to our administration for supporting our students and our work to install permanent art both inside and outdoors in the district,” said Mrs. Davis, who previously taught art at Benjamin Logan Middle School.
“The eight students are so proud of the finished pieces and they know that they have made an impact on their school for many years into the future. They can come back after they graduate to see these beautiful works of art in the auditorium.”
