When you walked into RBHS, you entered a makeshift, painted cave illuminated with stage and christmas lights which brightened the blue hues of the paper mache rocks and crystals.
Once you exited the tunnel, you entered a long hallway turned into a temporary art gallery with tens of art pieces of different compositions and mediums adorning the walls complete with wooden benches available in the middle of the hall to admire the pieces from.
This was the setting of the beautifully organized “Depth,” art show on Sunday, April 24 from 3pm-5pm. The show was put on by all the art teachers at RBHS and consisted of work from all levels of art classes.
“I put three of my pieces in the show and I wanted to see some of my friend’s work in the show. I’m in studio, which is the second art class level at RBHS. Last year I took foundations,” sophomore Grace Kirk said. “In terms of [my progression as an artist,]  I think that as you keep making art, you learn to think about all the details you have to add to make [the piece] actually look good. I’m still struggling with some of that so it’s great to have a teacher like Ms. Gorsage to push me as an artist.”
Abby Gorsage, one of the art teachers at RBHS that helped plan the show said the theme, “Depth,” has been the prevailing tone of the RBHS annual art show for the past three years.
“Depth is the name we stick with for every show. This is our third annual show and we started with the name “Depth” for two reasons. One was to have a visual tie in and then the other was so that we could have more of a conceptual tie in that thought about the depth and breadth of our student’s work and their conceptual thinking,” Gorsage said. “We leave the name each year to kind of have those tie ins, but every year we change the theme. Like the first year it was the depth of the ocean and last year it was the depth of the sky. This year, with the help of our students,  we chose caves.”
Students can choose to explore the depth theme any way they choose, whether be through medium or a concept they use to tie their pieces together.  AP Art 2 student and junior, Dzung Nguyen, choose to show depth through the concept of imagination.
“I have six pieces in the art show, but four are apart of my concentration. My concentration is about things you can’t see so I named all of my pieces ‘Beneath the Surface.’ They’re things you normally don’t see or don’t think exist, but if you use you imagination or look harder, you might be able to discover things you didn’t think existed,” Nguyen said. “I love having my pieces in the art show because I think it’s really cool to see how people react to my pieces and how they interpret them. I try not to worry too much about [their criticisms] because art is so subjective.”
Many students, however, are unsure of whether to put their art in the show for fear of criticism, Gorsage said. Students at all levels are very protective of their art and have to muster a lot of courage to showcase their art.
“Some students are very eager to put their work in and some need a little more nudging. Criticism [though is absolutely necessary.] That’s how we grow. Artists never reach their full potential; they’re always approaching art with fresh ideas and new approaches,” Trescott said. “I think sometimes we get stuck in this failure and success mindset instead of one of continuum of growth. It can be hard for student to understand that, but with shows like these, they realize that critiques can be good. It makes me so happy [to see students and parents looking at their work]. I see so much potential in my students all year and it’s nice to see that recognition in others. It’s good for students to have that.”[vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”285164,285158,285157″]