KHS celebrates creativity with A Night of Art and Poetry

KELLOGG — It was “A Night of Art & Poetry” at Kellogg High School on Wednesday, as students from Kelton Enich’s creative writing class teamed up with the students from Rachel Krusemark’s advanced art class to put on a special evening of architectural art and poetry.

Each art student was tasked to create a pastel image based on one of Kellogg’s buildings, and the creative writing students wrote poems that coincided with many of those pieces of art.

Following the viewing of the art, some of the poets took to the stage and read their pieces to the standing room-only crowd.

The event was a success, but the amount of work that went into putting it on was nothing short of spectacular.

“This was an introduction to using soft pastels for advanced art students,” Krusemark said. “I wanted to choose subjects somewhat geometric so that it would simplify their initial contour line drawings; I also wanted to choose subjects with which they were familiar — or thought they were until they really looked closely at them in order to recreate them. They get experience with basic drawing and proportion in beginning art, but for most, this project was the first time they had used pastels.”

On the poetry side of the event, Enich explained the process his students went through.

“Once we received the pieces of art from the art department, my students used them to write ekphrastic poetry or prose,” he said. “To write ekphrastic poetry, the creative writing students used the art as inspiration and then expanded on what they saw in the picture. They chose buildings they had a personal connection to and wrote about their experiences using the writing techniques we’ve learned so far this year. Each student has revised their poem through four full drafts of changes and received critical feedback from their peers.”

The event had its fair share of special moments as well, such as when the owner of one of the businesses that had been recreated caught up with the artist and discussed the piece together.

“This is such a fun event,” Uptown Hair Studio owner Lynnette VanBuskirk said. “It’s such an honor to have your business be part of it. Kacey did such a great job.”

This wasn’t VanBuskirk’s first time being covered by a KHS artist, and she proudly purchases and displays the pieces in her building.

The artist, KHS junior Kacey Johnson was thrilled that VanBuskirk liked her piece, despite her reservations about the medium in which it was done.

“I don’t have any experience with pastels, so I am really glad she liked it,” Johnson said. “I get my hair done there so it was easy to pick that building for the project.”

Coordinating an event like this between two different classes can be difficult, but both teachers agree that this one was definitely worth it as it gave students from differing creative viewpoints a chance to work together.

“I’m always looking for ways to collaborate with other teachers and classes,” Krusemark said. “It’s not always as easy as you’d think because of curriculum constraints, timing and the extra effort required by all involved. I take any opportunity I can get to work with other classes and subject areas. I’m also a former English teacher and poet, so when Kelton told me about a writing assignment she was going to do with ekphrastic poetry, of course I jumped on the opportunity to collaborate. Several of my art students are also in creative writing, so the connection runs even deeper.”

Enich elaborated on that concept even further.

“I think it’s important to show that so many of our content areas are intertwined, and especially ones that exist in the creative arts,” Enich said. “I think collaborating with other teachers, classes and content areas is important to support another layer of connectivity within the arts, within our school and within our community.”

Here is one of the many poems that was read during the event called “The Golden Age,” by freshamn Sequoia Garrison.

We drive up Main Street,

past shattered

windows and tall,

dried-out grass

that stretches over

chipped paint

and crumbled bricks.

At the corner of

Main Street

and Market Avenue,

one gleaming

gold light

bursts from

buzzing windows,

like hungry-for-honey

bees soaring from

their hive.

Breezing into this

conspicuous building,

it’s hard not to notice

the velvet, how vintage

a quaint area can be.

A space that reminds

people of simpler times,

where records spun

until they scratched

and golden radios

gushed jazzy tunes.

A speakeasy that

brought rebels together,

with class and company.

Yellow-tinted lights

reflect off redwood,

dangling in the air

with prosperity.

Once the chatter

leaves the room,

and the glow dims down,

the only pulsing lights

are the street lamps.

Illuminating

the corner of

Main Street

and Market Avenue,

is the one

and only

Radio.