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On March 17- March 21, the Striving Artist Program is featuring Aurora students durings its “Let it Rain Fundraiser!” The entrance of the high school will be lined with the students' umbrellas and their donation buckets; the donations will go towards supporting the artists and determining the AHS Popular Vote Winners!
The art students are given different materials to paint their umbrellas with acrylic paints or fabric markers. Even though Mr. Head gives them ideas that they can base their umbrellas on, they have complete creative freedom.
Senior Lauren Baka has been in the program for the past four years and has won top three honors three of the four years. Last year, she even won the top umbrella! She based her umbrella off of the “greenhouse”, otherwise known as the high school, since she wanted to pay a tribute to Aurora. “I decided to paint the Aurora greenmen logo surrounded by plants and butterflies to represent ‘the greenhouse’," Baka mentioned.
This is Aurora McCloud’s second year being involved in the project. Her creation consisted of oil pastels, markers, and gel pens. “I discovered that blending the pastels was easier than painting (the median I used last year), and the markers allowed me to emphasize certain areas,” McCloud stated. McCloud adores spring time and wanted to incorporate her love for it in her umbrella. Her goal was to have a consistent color palette and was inspired by flowers. McCloud shared, “Spring reminds me of new beginnings, and I tried to capture the bubbly feelings spring brings.” McCloud is thankful for her time in art one and her art teachers for helping her create her umbrella. She donated her umbrella to the Aurora Orchestra Association, but fortunately for her, a digital image of her umbrella will be on display!
Acrylic paint, paint markers, and oil pastels were used to create Quinn Quidilla’s umbrella. “We've grown up using blander colors and beiges. I wanted to do something that felt like a kid was given art supplies and was let free, in a sense,” Quidilla mentioned. After about fifteen hours, Quidilla was left with a bright and colorful umbrella. Getting used to using different materials on the umbrella is something that Quidilla has learned over the years. Quinn Quidilla chose to have her umbrella on display for all students to see.
First time participant, sophomore Sarah Howell’s passion for travel inspired the design behind her umbrella. Howell’s umbrella features the Scottish national animal, a unicorn; and a kelpie from celtic mythology. “I used the national animal - a unicorn - and a water horse from Scottish mythology called a kelpie to show the balance of land and sea,” Howell shared. Howell used fabric markers to draw on her umbrella, but is willing to branch out with other mediums in the future. Just like Aurora McCloud, Sarah Howell donated her umbrella to the Aurora Orchestra Association to be auctioned off as well.
Sophomore Kendall Ware drew her inspiration from the online classes during COVID times. “I wanted to show how we persevered through such a hard time and found ways to prioritize things like education and social interactions, even when we couldn't physically see each other,” Ware shared. Ware’s goal was to make each person on her umbrella look like people she knew. After a month of brainstorming ideas, working on a rough draft, and another month of creating her art piece, Ware finished with an amazing outcome! She is planning on hanging it from the roof of Mr. Head’s art room so she can admire her hard work and so future participants of this project can draw inspiration from her.
Anna Jaskola wanted to create something that would stand out for her first year participating in this event. While visiting the zoo, she got inspiration from jellyfish that seemed to be glowing in their tank. Themes that were given for this project included nature, city, technology, and more; Jaskola wanted to focus on one specific thing. “I decided to focus on nature, specifically the beauty of the underwater world,” Jaskola mentioned. She brought her vision to life by using acrylic paint to layer colors and add specific details to enhance depth and movement. Jaskola hopes that her umbrella will spark interest in people as it hangs from the ceiling of Mr. Head’s art room.
Don’t miss out on viewing these students' umbrellas this week in the main hallway, and help support our AHS artists!
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