Arts

Student artists deserve acknowledgment for their work  

Students in art classes want to be seen for the work they do

By Mia Sartin 

February 28 2023 

Students in art classes want to be seen by the work they do. They're proud of the work they've done and deserve acknowledgement for the work they've done with different art styles to express themselves 

Student artists have many projects throughout the semester that are different art styles and try new things some students have not been able to do before. Projects from still life, impression, collages and painting. All of these projects create a new world kids are able to open up and be creative in. Different types of art show the teacher what you're able to do and what you're good at. People around the school would like to see what art classes have to offer and what projects are happening in the classes currently. 

Nicole Merrell, an Art teacher at Wade Hampton high school said, “In class we are working from a 2 point perspective and looking at drawing a 3 dimensional city seen from a 2 point perspective. It's a new project that we haven't done last semester and is a new style we are learning in art.”

Students in the class are now seeing new ways to  express a new art style and ways to use 2 point perspectives in a 3 dimensional city.

Freshman Beatrice Johnson said, “I like drawing people, so this new project is really making me think outside of my comfort zone and using this new architect style is new and is fun to work with.”

Students are learning to start using an architect style to do their project and are seeming to like the new art style as it is opening to new and different ideas. 

Merrell said, “Claire Wilson, a student in our class, just started the 2 point perspective and is going far and beyond. She is drawing Paris and she has intricate windows, an amazing archway with stone details around the arch way and you can see into the building and  I'm so amazed by her work and she takes the challenge and runs with it and I'm really impressed.”

This shows that students are taking this new art style and putting in their own style and making their art more detailed and going far and beyond to express a new style in art they might have never expressed before.

Sophomore Said Monge said, “We recently did a project with the Black Lives Matter movement and it was a project where you had to put out a figure in our life in the Black Lives Matter movement and create almost like a collage with different newspaper and magazines cutouts in the background of the project. This project is different and fun to do because everyone's project comes out different with different cutouts in the background.”

The Black Lives Matter movement project lets students acknowledge figures in the movement and different ways to express their spotlight and create a project where they can express different ways to show off their empowerful figure. 

Merrell said, “My favorite projects to do with students are the Where's Waldo Project because I really get to see students and their favorite things. It's a project where students hide Waldo in different objects that describe them, and I love seeing students and it's almost a way to connect to my students. I also love painting with my students because it's amazing to see how some students work with paint better and how some students love painting more than other projects we've been doing in class.”

Students with these new projects are able to show different aspects of themselves and show what they love and like in a college with a fun way to do it. Trying to find a Waldo in a collage with all different objects that you love. Painting for students creates new ways to show how they might be better with painting. Painting with different colors, mixing colors to make different tints and shades and painting in smooth different colors to make art you love can show a teacher what art style fits best for you.

Johnson said, “I really enjoy art class and love the atmosphere, it's a really calm and quiet environment to work in and I'm really excited about new projects coming in the semester and wondering what's next for our projects coming up. 

Projects in art class let the teacher see you as a person and how different art styles connect to you and how to express yourself. With these different art styles it lets students find new ways community there art styles to others. Finding if they like painting, drawing, article or colleges really bring the art class together in the art they do together. 

Outstanding: Third Best Received

The Chorus Field Trip

Maggie Billingsley

March 1, 2023

This trip was more than worth it, according to the people who took it. 38 students attended and they visited Universal Studios’ theme park, attended Wicked on the Floridian Broadway, visited the Kennedy Space Center, and then the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Midwinter Concert. Madison Thomas, a 10th-grade Soprano told the Herald that the students won an Outstanding, which is just below the best grade, Superior, during their competition. They were ranked third overall, being 0.3 points away from the Superior title. 

“We stayed in Orlando Tuesday and Wednesday night.  Thursday morning we departed for Daytona Beach where we stayed until our return drive on Sunday,” Amy Moyer, choral director at Wade Hampton said. The drive to Florida was about eight and a half hours; seventeen there and back. “We performed at the Peabody Auditorium as part of the Midwinter Convention that was based at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort (where we stayed during our time in Daytona Beach,” Moyer said in an email with the Hampton Herald.

Davis Levingston, 12th grade bass, told us the songs that they sang. “We sang a song called One Heartbeat, This is Why I Sing, and The World Is Way.” He rated the trip a solid 8. 

All to say, the choral field trip, despite being over 30,000 dollars, was worth it.

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.