School One To Present Art Show

From School One: May marks the annual art show featuring the work of School One students, alumni and staff. An opening reception will be held at School One on Thursday, May 10, 2018, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Featured this year is the work of School One senior, Bill Wu of Barrington, Rhode Island, who won a Gold medal at this year’s Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Two additional School One students received awards at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Bryn Mulligan, Providence and Stella Paradise, East Greenwich. Both Bryn and Stella were awarded silver medals.

School One is a small, independent high school located on the East Side of Providence. School One offers an exciting array of art courses such as photography, jewelry making, surrealist art, graphic design, visual storytelling, video, painting and drawing, and sculpture.

From its founding in 1973 in a bowling alley in downtown Providence, School One has attracted creative students. Many have considerable talent and a deep interest in the arts. They have been taught and mentored by the school’s top-notch art faculty (most of whom are professional artists).

Every year a number of School One students are accepted at the country’s most prestigious art schools, including Pratt Institute, Savannah College of Art, Cooper Union, RISD, Fashion Institute of Technology, Mass College of Art and Design and the Art Institutes of Chicago and of Boston. Many of the school’s alumni became painters, illustrators, and sculptors as well as poets, authors and playwrights.

Students are drawn to School One for its environment of inspiration. Even the school’s lockers are bold, rainbow colors rather than uniform beige as you might find in most schools.

“Many of the students who come to School One to focus on the arts hope to study art or design in college. They work on art production but also learn art history, design and presentation concepts, artistic connections with academics and effective criticism techniques. We give them a wealth of support for college applications, portfolio and artist's statement guidance and regular visits from admissions representatives from the top art and design colleges. We also encourage them to participate in a variety of exhibition opportunities,” said Kristen Jones, Visual Arts Coordinator.

School One student Ariel Han is a senior who will attend Parsons School of Design, New York, in the Fall. About her experience at School One and getting into her dream school, Ariel said, “Independence is something that other schools don’t usually give to their students. However, if you are at School One, you can always go for whatever idea you have as long as your idea is fully developed. For my Parson project I incorporated my history class used the inspiration of the Renaissance women, and created my own piece based on them.

But what about the ones who don’t want to be artists?

Head of School Jennifer Borman explains, “We want all students to develop their creativity, but the majority don’t intend to pursue art professionally. We believe that creative thinking and problem solving are vital skills across all kinds of 21st century jobs. We also believe that the arts help us grow as human beings.”

Kristen Jones sees those students in her art classes. She says, “Students who come to School One are attracted to a unique experience that promotes creativity in each class and activity. So even if a student is not as focused on art, the material they study in arts classes helps them with developing their creativity and critical thinking skills. The more academic focused students often find it satisfying to engage in the art classes that provide them with the personal freedom to be expressive.”

This year’s Annual Art Show will take place at School One on Thursday, May 10th from 3-9pm. School One is located at 220 University Avenue, at the corner of Slater and University Avenue. Members of the public are invited to attend.

For more information about the art show, or to schedule a tour of School One, please contact Julia Volynsky at School One, 401-331-2497 or by email at juliav@school-one.org.

Photos courtesy of School One:

(Image 1) Digital Photograph by Bill Wu, School One Student and Scholastic Gold Key Medal winner

(Image 2) Collage by Ariel Han

(Image 3) Paper Cut by Ariel Han

(Image 4) Artwork Bryn Mulligan, School One Student and Scholastic Silver Key Medal winner