Arts

Listening for Life

Student Artists at WHHS

By John Hodrea and Mary Blair Smith

December 2024

Copy of Music in Teen Identity at WHHS by Mary Blair and John H..pdf

New Drama Club to Produce Student Written and Directed Play

The Drama Club’s first annual Spring production will highlight one of WHHS’s student playwrights

By Zinnia Robertson

February 10, 2023

Image by Andy Rawl

Throughout Wade Hampton’s history, its theatre department has been producing plays and musicals. Students are offered Honors level theatre as an elective and also have the choice to go beyond the grade and attend competitions with the department-affiliated Theatre Brigade. A new club, however, brings yet another opportunity for WHHS students to get in touch with the art of dramatics. When asked why she decided to start the club, WHHS senior and president of the club Harmony Witcher-Talley said, “I noticed that there wasn’t one and I’ve been in drama club for my whole high school career and enjoyed it. I wanted to give others the chance to experience the joy I got from it.” A student-led drama club, distinct from the school’s existing theatre department, allows for students to have more creative liberty and selection with the dramatic pieces they decide to focus on. One student taking advantage of the new creative outlet, WHHS Junior Andy Rawl, plans to produce his own play, self-written and self-directed. “Petals in Formaldehyde” is “...about forbidden love in a gloomy, gothic setting (Innsmouth, Massachusetts). A young man was raised in a cult there and falls in love with a woman from out of town, but after she falls ill, he suspects it’s a curse,” said Rawl. Rawl’s inspiration for the story came from “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by fantasy and science-fiction horror writer HP Lovecraft. “A lot of those stories are all insanity and sadness, so I thought: what could make a stronger tragedy than introducing something positive into that setting and having something happen to it?” Rawl said. Rawl has been active in the school’s theatre department as well. Last semester, the Honors Theatre class produced a short preview of “Petals in Formaldehyde” as part of a department fundraising event which showcased three student-directed plays. “Playwriting and screenwriting are my biggest passions along with acting, and I'd love to publish my plays and see my works on a screen someday. I've been very active working towards those goals,” said Rawl.“Petals in Formaldehyde” has been fully cast and will debut this May. Horror, gothic literature, and general theatre fans alike should consider supporting this student writer’s passion project. Witcher-Talley also has plans for theatre after graduation.“I plan on majoring in theatre in college,” Witcher-Talley said. It will be interesting to see how the scope of the productions put on by the club expands in the coming years as the challenge of organization and funding is passed on to new leadership. Witcher-Talley hopes for the club to continue to grow after her departure from Wade Hampton.“I would love to see them do bigger plays and more musicals,” Witcher-Talley said. This goal can certainly be reached with support from the community and the continued dedication of the club’s members. The club seems to be on track for success with their first production, with weekly practices taking place until its debut. Witcher-Talley also has some advice for any student looking to start a new club at school.“Definitely prepare ahead and promote your club,” said Witcher-Talley. Clubs are a great medium for students to express their interests and get involved with something they enjoy. The new Drama Club will undoubtedly be a positive addition to WHHS’s lineup of clubs and serve as a creative outlet for students for years to come.

Art Students Paint Mural in the First Floor Long Hallway

The new mural aims to reflect WHHS’s diverse students and environment

By Zinnia Robertson

February 10, 2023

Photo by Zinnia Robertson

Wade Hampton has gained an eye-catching new piece of art that makes the first-floor hallway more interesting to look at as students pass by on their way to class. The story behind the mural, which is Wade Hampton’s first, highlights the school’s unique community. Art 2, 3, and 4 students spent the end of their first semester working on the mural. Senior art student Blythe Haan said, “Dr. Grant approached the advanced art class about painting a mural, he wanted the mural to reflect the diversity and inclusion within Wade Hampton, and as a class we expanded that to also include some connections to the Greenville area in general.”While the students had help from their teacher, the majority of the ideas for the mural came from working together as a class.Art Teacher Nicole Merrell said, “Most of the mural was planned by the students. We all got together and brainstormed to come up with an idea to reflect everyone and the whole area and how diverse our environment is.” Capturing diversity was, no doubt, a point of emphasis in the planning stage of the artwork. Each of the letters in the large vintage postcard-style “WHHS” reflect a different aspect of the school’s community. “The W in the mural depicts our student section and the diversity of our students,” said Haan. Wade Hampton’s student section has certainly been a point of pride for its students for decades and its inclusion in the mural represents the student body coming together. Merrell elaborated on the theme of areas around the school seen in the next three letters. “The second letter, the H, is downtown Greenville because it’s a very recognizable image. The third letter was all the areas around campus like the soccer field, baseball field, track, the front of the school, the Wade Hampton High School sign. The S was all maps and roads in our area that all the kids are driving on every day,” said Merrel. The background is the Blue Ridge Mountains, another iconic image from Wade Hampton and Greenville’s surrounding area. The goal was to use recognizable and enduring imagery. “We tried to keep it timeless. Something that people 20 years from now could look back on and say “Oh, I recognize this,’ and it’s not just something that would be specific to these students right now. It’s something that would forever be meaningful.” said Merrell.The process of actually creating the mural was divided amongst the art students with each person being given an aspect to focus on. “My main job was to help with painting the mountains, I helped sketch the outline of the mountains on the wall and then worked alongside Kaley Black and a few other students to mix colors and paint the mountains,” said Haan. “Different groups of people worked together as a group to make a design for what that letter should look like, and they then worked together to actually paint it on the wall. The rest of the students had roles painting the background, shadows, or other elements,” she said. The groups also gave each other advice and consulted with Merrell to make sure everyone in the class was happy with the result. Although the mural was not able to be completed by the second semester class change, Merrell is proud of what her students were able to accomplish.“I was very impressed with how hard they worked. I even have some students coming back to finish it after the new semester because it’s not 100% done. It really pushed the students to think outside of what they were used to doing because it’s something that everyone in the school will see every day,” said Merrell. As of now, the piece does not have an official finish date. Even so, the art class’s hard work and dedication to creating a mural reflective of the school is on display for all to see.

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