Civil Rights itself has different meanings depending on who you ask, and that diversity is shown in Westfield High School's art gallery. Given the theme "Civil Rights," Westfield High School artists delivered stirring depictions of the issues associated with Civil Rights: today, tomorrow, and yesterday. The artists took the topic and ran with it, providing pieces that made statements about everything from religion, women's rights, social issues, the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and beyond.
The variation in interpretation, intensity of the topic, and strength of the artists' passions on the subjects combined to present the audience with pleasantly jarring pieces. Though different stylistically, they all firmly asserted ideas concerning the artists' version of civil rights. Commonly addressed were current threats to or changes that need to be made in order to ensure these rights. The artists each had a message to get across to their peers. Whether it was about the school's dress code, Black Lives Matter, or religious freedom, the emotions behind the art are astonishingly deep and tangible. Clearly, the students are well informed, both about current events (detailed in the art referencing today's social issues: racism, homelessness, income inequality, etc.) and past (referenced most often in photographs depicting the racism of America in the 1950s or 1960s).
Sundry textures and mediums make the gallery available to all art fanatics, even the pre-fanatic. Photographs, crafted beautifully in black and white, make strong declarations about memories and race. One other photo makes use of color to draw emphasis to the central figure, a young woman making a statement about body image.
Even amongst a common medium, there is incredibly strong variety in interpretation and artistic choice. Newspaper was used frequently in these projects, but the voice of the artists kept each one singular. Some projects had newspapers as backdrops for their central idea. Others used cut-out or drawn-on words and images to make their arguments. An example is a project that had flowers arranged in a peace symbol over top of a news and black paper backdrop, with three people holding hands at the bottom (one woman, with men on either side of her). The rights this artist wants to support are gay rights.
One image that I found especially powerful was "Dress Code," a piece of artwork that was simple, yet boldly called out the school system (within the walls of a school, mind you) on its unfair dress code policy. Set atop a black backdrop, a single pink camisole is lain, crumpled. Strewn across the image are words: appalling, outrageous, desperate, inappropriate, shameful, disgusting. In addition, two phrases are shown: "she's asking for it ..." and "put a jacket on ..." This is not the only art that addresses gender inequalities, but it is the one I believe did it most powerfully. Not only did the artist make his/her topic easy to understand, but he/she chose words and phrases that make you connect with his/her intentions and sympathize with young women within the school system.
The most heart-wrenching part of this type of artwork is that so many people relate to it. We can all see the pain behind the art and that is what we feel a connection to. Our hearts reach out to the hurt of the artwork and we discover that we are not alone in our emotions.
At the base of it, everyone has a stake in civil rights, which is why this topic is so perfect and invited such versatile products. Everyone has had the feeling of discrimination, suffered due to flaws in our current society, though some admittedly more than others. These flaws and feelings find their home in the gallery, a neighborhood of anguished representations of civil rights. This is why a trip to the art gallery, a small promise of time, is so very necessary.
Not all galleries can claim to be current, reflective, and relevant all at once. Moreover, not all art has a meaning that can be found with ease, especially not by the casual aesthete. The intentions behind these pieces are clear, and the emotions they evoke are reflective of what we all feel we have experienced or have seen someone else experience: inequality. The "brush strokes" of these artists paint a picture familiar to us all, bring form to the feelings we all keep inside of ourselves, mostly unspoken but forever felt. To have your emotions captured beautifully within the heart and art of another is an incredible experience, one I recommend to readers everywhere.
Whatever your preference, whatever your opinion, the group of work put together by the artists of Westfield High School captures a certain desperation prevalent in the civil rights movements of any generation. Bring your parents, grandparents, younger or older siblings, and yourself down to the Westfield High School Art Gallery to experience the rich, gritty impressions of civil rights.
— Hayley Shankle, 10th grade
“Can you please go in there for me?” I ask.
“Sure what are besties for?” says Mary. She goes into a shop, and brings handfuls of candy. Mary and I giggle and start to eat the candies. But I couldn’t stop having the uneasiness in my stomach.
“Mary, I hope I’m actually free,” I say saddily.
“Don’t worry you will be soon,” says Mary.
I smile. Even though we are best friends, I can’t help thinking we’re so different. We go to different schools, different restaurants, and even different public restrooms. The only reason is because she is white and I’m not. I arrive home, and see my mom busy cooking food. My mom works as a helper in a white person’s house. She doesn’t earn much money. My mom is always sorry for not doing more for me.
Next morning, I head for school. Mary doesn’t go to the same school as me, and I always think that is the saddest thing. My school doesn’t have many classrooms. We have to squeeze in. I can’t even properly walk in there. Today, the kids are excited about some news. They say that some kids in our school will actually riot by riding in the front section of the bus. This is a very risky thing as they could get arrested. But I couldn’t help but feel a thrilled by the news.
Next day, the kids rioting in the bus didn’t come to school. Kids say they got arrested. They are only 13 years old.
“Hey Mary,” I say.
“Hey … um, I have to tell you something,” Mary says.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“My mom told me not to hang out with you anymore.”
This words from Mary hurt me so much. “What do you mean? But why?” I ask.
“She says we’re different. And she even says that I could fall into wrong path when I’m with you,”
“OK,” I murmur. I walk toward the playground, feeling the loss she just had. There are white kids in the playground, pointing at me. I just head home.
I felt angry at this society. The society that parts the people into two. And treating them differently. I wanted to change it.
Next morning, I head to school with full preparation. I gathered some people. We are going to have a riot in a restaurant. At the end of the school, we go into a white only restaurant, sitting there, ordering food. The people in this restaurant look startled. The waiter isn’t even coming, instead a manager comes and tells us to get out. We refuse.
“We have the authority to be treated like a real human sir,” I say.
The next day, we come to the same restaurant and start our riot. There are less customers in the restaurant. The restaurant people called the police, and they take us away. After we’re released, our story spreads People are angry that 13 year olds got dragged out by police for going into a restaurant. After this, many people started the riot of going into the white only restaurant. This would bring some differences I thought. I’m always waiting for freedom.
— Amy Hong, 9th grade
The Westfield Art Gallery features a wide array of intriguing artwork that represents the creative nature of all of its students. However, the gallery lacks diversity of technique and message as is common among most student galleries. Walking around it was apparent that the artwork featured was the result of a handful of assignments with one overarching theme. This is not a negative point necessarily; it makes sense to have a common thread connecting the ideas presented in the same gallery but those ideas lacked a sense of organic origins. Again, this was neither surprising or disappointing in a student gallery and it is not say the pieces did not show impressive technique, original thought, or sincerity. However, very few students broke the mold of the expectations resting on their work. What I find most fascinating about studying a piece of art is the inspiration that began it. It is difficult to be given an assignment and then search for inspiration within those confines. What I like to see in response to strict guidelines is rule breaking and different interpretations of the prompt. This is why I found the piece featured above so invigorating. It took the given topic, engaged multiple techniques to create a work of art that speaks clearly and boldly without the aid, or hindrance actually, of cliches, and separated itself from the other pieces beside it. To me it was by far the most unique and thought provoking art piece featured in the gallery.
The piece is composed of a photograph printed on a distressed cloth bound in an embroidery hoop. It is abstract in nature and relatively open to different interpretations. I see it as a statement on gender equality and the struggle of woman in a society that does not value the individuality of the human spirit. The photo depicts a person covering their face with their hands in apparent shame or hopelessness. The embroidery hoop is locked around the photo, trapping the individual in their moment of distress. I was initially drawn to the piece by its texture and emotional appeal. It is framed on every side by pieces of similar substance and depth to one another. The surrounding works are all featured on the same allotted rectangles of paper, and while they do demonstrate careful thought and good technique, they do not have a strong voice as the piece above does. This piece of artwork displays a heightened level of emotional maturity and cultural awareness of the artist who created it. The artist was able to take their idea and realize it in a way that it could be appreciated by others in many different ways. Whether it is coincidence of matching tastes and opinions or a true discovery of artistic potential, I found this piece incredibly moving.
I am proud of all the artists at Westfield and the support our programs offer to all creative individuals and their endeavors, and I hope I don’t come off as arrogant or conceited when I chose to highlight a particular piece over others. Art is a tricky thing to judge and my interpretation and personal influence should not be taken with absolute importance. Perhaps my opinion was influenced by my perceptions that art should be attractive to the eye. There were many pieces that I overlooked because they did not appeal to my superficial tastes or my expectations of what art should look like. I hope that any artist who reads this article challenges my views and continues to strengthen their voice in the process. I too am in the process of creating my own voice as a fellow creator so I understand the difficulty of forming unique ideas and the sting of critique. However, good art and good writing are forged by the same hand of constructive criticism so it is of value to every artist, of any medium, to accept criticism as part of the creative process.
This exhibit and art as a whole should be a celebration of our differences, including our artistic or ideological differences. My point of disappointment with the artistic ideas presented in the gallery was not actually with any specific piece or number of pieces disagreeing with my tastes too much.It was with the lack of differences presented between pieces. I did not feel many pieces of artwork reached out to me to change my views or opinions. I think anyone else who values creative endeavors will share my belief that one of the most important roles an artist fulfills is being a catalyst for ideological change. This is a message to all people who wish to create something meaningful: no restriction is absolute, no topic is so finite, no rubric holds enough weight that you should put your unique perspective aside to fit within it. Art starts from a point of original perspective and personal meaning and the finished product should reflect that.
— Rachel Hall, 12th grade