to all my crew who put up over a thousand pieces of original art for our annual
Open House Show and Sale.
OPEN HOUSE WALLS
INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART
juried art pieces for the show, ladders and t-pins
The hanging of the show begins about a month before it's date
with my art assistant and 2012 Alumni Alyssa Olea.
She unrolls miles of black poster paper and covers all the pinable walls
in the largest classroom in the school,
Room 18 (previously Room 24 back in the day),
As you can see in these wide angle shots below,
Alyssa had a whole lot of walls to deal with.
Then 9 days before Open House I gather my Intermediate 2-D kids during class,
and talk them thru their 3rd Quarter Final,
hanging the wall panels.
We lottery off the best ones,
one to each of this year's six 2nd year students.
Seniors Malaya Sithichai, Ayesha Durrani, Jazzarie Lo, Kevin Mao, Eileen Lee, and junior Sam Tun.
In the meantime,
Alyssa has spread out all the 2-d juried art pieces we've been saving for this event
along the bookshelves in the bookroom next door.
(Thank you Jenn for trusting us in there).
Each child is given an empty portfolio to fill with pieces
they will be graded on that work well together (Visual Flow)
And they must pick not only pieces done in color but also drawings in black and white.
Also graded on is hanging pieces from all 9 of my classes.
So in other of words,
each class is well represented on every panel.
Design is critical for each panel.
They have a choice between taking the easy way out and hanging symmetrically,
or the difficult route,
asymmetry.
But in the end the wall must FEEL balanced.
They are also given empty boxes to fill with bas relief 3-D and ceramic pieces
that can be hung on a wall.
(the 3-d sculptures that can't be hung
are spread out on all the tabletops on the night of Open House)
Each panel is hung from floor to ceiling,
with the pieces fairly close together so we can fit everything.
I would guess that each kid hung between 65 to 120 pieces on each of their walls.
There were lots of other walls that all had to be hung as well.
I always do the most awful one in the back far corner because of all the wires running down it.
Alyssa usually hangs over and under the chalkboard,
as well as
the elongated rectangle across the refrigeration unit where we house clay and supplies.
We both worked on another difficult wall that is made from plywood
where the door leads to the bookroom.
And Special Studies senior Shreya Sheth stepped up to the plate
and hung the huge wall across the front of the room by the sinks,
as well as a hidden corner panel.
And this year we had way more pieces than usual
because I had more students than usual,
so Alyssa and I hung the fronts of all the supply cabinets,
and around the white door panel that leads to Mr. Bender's science room.
It was crazy this year too because we even had ceramic bells hanging from the entire ceiling.
Completely surrounded by beauty!
Oh, oh, oh,
let me not forget to thank senior Deborah Harris,
my 7th period T.A. who hung up all the Before and After Drawings
across the front of the refrigeration unit,
a big job.
And then the most Revolting Development happened.
I fell off the ladder and knocked my head real good the day before Open House.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
So on the day of Open House Alyssa,
dear Alyssa,
spent the entire day at school in my stead,
teaching my classes because the sub couldn't,
directed the moving of all the Sculptures with Shreya after school,
picked everything up so the room looked perfect.
Then she and Shreya got all dolled up and were there to greet the parents, teachers and guests
beginning at 5:30 thru 8:30.
I was told to stay home and rest the knot on my head,
right?
NO, HOW COULD I STAY AT HOME THE MOST IMPORTANT NITE
OF THE SCHOOL YEAR FOR ME???
I couldn't even drive or focus or do up my hair,
but my husband drove me to school so I could greet my guests,
thank my students,
and meet their supportive parents.
So thank you,
all of you,
for making this one of the most eventful Open Houses ever!
What do they say Liz?
It takes a village.
