The Woodlands High School Art Trust and Me

This is the auditorium where each artwork was displayed in poster form and where student docents spoke about each artwork and where the winners were announced.

This past weekend I drove to the Houston area for an event at The Woodlands High School. I, along with 19 other artists had been selected as finalists in the high school's program called "Palettes and Paintings" which raises funds with the specific purpose of acquiring fine art for the high school's permanent collection and is organized by The Woodlands High School Art Trust. Each student gets one vote towards the final selection. This was only the event's third annual but the students seemed really enthusiastic--3600 votes were cast out of approximately 4000 potential voters. The student docents (who are responsible for selecting the finalists) display the artworks in the high school's hallways in the weeks leading up to the event so that the student body has a chance to look them over. And each year the Trust purchases the art works which receive the most votes...actually the top 5. Now, I get asked to participate in a lot of fundraisers and I participate in many but this was unusual in that I wasn't being asked to donate anything, and in fact, was instead given a chance to expose my work to a new audience and given the chance of actually selling it. I love that the goal is to surround these students with art. The two previous years' acquisitions (10 pieces, so far) are prominently displayed in the hallways so that the students will have the opportunity to see them daily. I am pleased to say that my painting, Rio Frio, Opening Earth was one of the 5 chosen and will now reside in those same hallways. The evening was entirely charming, run by the students with much help from many devoted parents. This is a wonderful model. It's a learning experience for young artists and future curators and something many schools would do well to imitate. And for the artists it's a great opportunity. I will recommend this program to other artists as this collection will surely grow in variety and sophistication over the coming years.

 

Here, my painting displayed in the hallway with the other finalists.

Here is a better view...Rio Frio, Opening Earth, oil on canvas, 12x36", 2011

And this is me, in the bathroom, before the proceedings, and wearing my excellent pallet name tag.