Galleries, arts center, artist run spaces, and art museums have all closed since mid-March due to the pandemic. Many of which canceled or postponed their exhibitions and events until further notice. At Sheboygan North High School, we have an exhibition space called NHS ARTifacts Gallery, which showcases all of our students’ works from across all content areas. To continue our programming, we’ve put together an online exhibition featuring new works by our Art Foundations 4 students.
The Sheboygan North High Art Department believes that art should be shared beyond the walls of our school. Nowadays, art can be shared through various platforms, many of which are now being used online. We experience art from all over the globe through virtual studio tours to ZOOM artist talks, augmented virtual art exhibitions to social media. This exhibition, “Reflections on this Moment in Time” provided our Art Foundations 4 students the opportunity to use art as a way to reflect, respond, and connect to what is happening right now through their art, their creativity, and their perspective.
Exhibition
Featured artists
This piece shows the reality of what it feels like through the difficult times of quarantine. We are forced to social distance ourselves from others. Being stuck inside we must go virtual/online to work, chat and basically keep our sanity. We can go outside and go places, but we have to be careful because you never when you can catch the virus.
Abigail Beyersdorf, Stuck Inside, 2020, Prismacolor colored pencils on poster board, 9 x 8.5 inches
“Muffled”, which is a parody of Edvard Munich’s infamous painting, “The Scream” reflects my feelings during the coronavirus pandemic. Each day this pandemic goes on I feel like I want to scream. I tried to capture this feeling in the painting. The man’s mask which covers his scream represents how China covered up the virus and how trapped we all feel in isolation from others. The river behind the man is polluted and filled with radioactive waste and the bank on the left is full of graves. The man wants to scream out against all the injustice that is being done to the world and to himself but can’t… all because of the mask.
Ted Wind, “Muffled”, Acrylic paint on paper, 10 x 8 inches. 2020
I decided to draw a doctor with a mask on. I wanted to do this because doctors are so important in this crisis. They are saving lives and I wanted to represent that in my drawing. They are heroes. I added paint on the mask to make it pop and to represent how important it is to be safe and to not get infected. On the background I painted it a dark red color because the coronavirus is that color and I wanted to have a dramatic feel. Finally, the doctor is in a side view because it makes her look determined and ready to face the disease.
Emily Fisher, “Hero in Disguise”, Pencil and acrylic on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 2020
The intent of my artwork was to show negative emotions of the whole covid-19 situation. I wanted to symbolically put objects to represent parts of our lives where we are losing. I put in adjectives for each object to show emotions. Finally, I rarely get migraines, but when I do, there are lots of fuzzy, and flashy colors in all peripheral vision. I tried to represent that on the edges of the piece. I did that because when I get these migraines, it gives me an intense headache, like the virus. I get blind spots wherever I look, hence why I called it, Losing Vision.
Erik Mujkanovic, “Losing Vision”, Sharpie and acrylic on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2020
My drawing is about when I go to with my dad to Lake Michigan. I saw some big waves while it was nice out. I see people walk.
Samantha Wood, “Lake Michigan”, Markers on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 2020
This painting communicates how I feel about the coronavirus. I’m upset.
Anthony Eckert, “Upset by the Day”, Acrylic on canvas, 8 x 10 inches, 2020
The purpose of the artwork I created was because when we were being quarantined I realized that everyone must wear a mask when they go outside or go shopping. I heard that kids at age 1-9 can’t go shopping because they might get infected by other people in the stores.
Anny Chang, “The Mask of Quarantine”, Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches, 2020
I wanted this piece to give people a very eery feeling but also help to maybe educate on the effects this is having on the United States. The fact we live in Sheboygan, we have been kept within a fairly safe distance from the epicenter of this pandemic. I feel that because of our distance from this we cannot truly feel the effects of the virus, and that’s why I want to show the effects through my art. I think my piece does a great job of displaying how vulnerable we are, no matter how big we build, we can still be crippled and sent into very hard times.
Spencer Collins, “Eery”, Prismacolor colored pencil on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 2020
My intention of my artwork is to show how the world would look if the virus isn’t gone. It communicates people wearing a mask to be protected!
Andy Thao, “Covid-19 Burndown Takeover”, Pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2020
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I created a cartoon drawing of people hurrying to get toilet paper instead of looking for the cure. It communicates our society’s messed up priorities.
Mary Johnson, “Hidden”, Markers on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2020
My art piece is of a man looking out his window in quarantine. In this piece you can see the shaded black sky to create of dark and sad mood. You can also see very large buildings in the background to show a city with lights on in the buildings.
Justin Gmach, “Mood”, Colored pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2020
Through the difficulty and dark times we are facing right now, there is still hope for the world to return to its former state. The word “hope” resonates with this piece through the bright glow in the girl’s eyes. The restrictions of interacting have inspired me to restrict the tools I’ve used in this piece, resorting to my fingers, a ruler, and paint.
Luecy Xiong, “Hope”, Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 14 inches, 2020
In my art piece, I wanted to try to show how the whole world is struggling with the coronavirus. I made a collage of pictures of the Earth. All the pictures are news articles from all over the world. The Earth is also representing the shape of the coronavirus. The “land” is made up of the coronavirus showing every continent has it. The water and the Alert are made up of photos from different news stories. It also shows how so many healthcare workers are risking their lives by helping people.
Florence Butterfield, “Alert”, Collage on paper, 24 x 18 inches, 2020
This is an 8 x 10 inch painting that focuses on a girl. She is all alone and wearing a mask. She is surrounded by different shades of green, which symbolizes germs all around her. She looks a little emotionless or overwhelmed with everything going on in our world today. The point of this painting is to show how important it is to wear a mask and stay safe.
Aileen Zenk, “Stay Safe”, Acrylic on paper, 10 x 8 inches, 2020
This painting shows the feelings of fear, loneliness and uncertainty during the pandemic.
Amelia Redell, “Alone in Fear”, Acrylic on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches, 2020
nhsartdept.com 
Very thought provoking and emotional, yet beautiful work. Thanks for sharing!
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THANK YOU so much to these students. I am weeping over these images which tell the stories of isolation and fear – but you students are the hope! I am weeping because you are using your minds and hearts to create something new for us to see and take in! I am so grateful that you are making art. Please keep using your gifts and your minds – you are our hope!!!
Thank you for your comments.
Every art work is communicating a different perspective and a different feeling, but all of them do communicate. My heart went through all these feelings in these last minutes. It helped me to be more authentic to express that yes I feel overwhelmed and sad, and helpless some times, and hopeful often but not always… thanks!
Thank you for your comments.