Community helps judge annual PHS art show

PALMER — The fourth annual Palmer High School International Baccalaureate Art Portfolio Review Day was quite the event at Palmer High School last week.

There is only one semi-anatomically correct, nude drawing — done by James Mcllmail — so there shouldn’t be the fireworks of last year’s IB show. (Students’ work was covered up last year because of “controversial elements,” which included nudity.)

Each year, the Palmer IB Arts program brings in art professionals to interview and review student art. The list is always impressive. This year, artists including Mariano Gonzales from the University of Alaska Anchorage, Felicia Desimini from Mat-Su College, Steven Godfrey from UAA, Pam Strahan from Madd Matters, and professional artists Gail Niebrugge, Gregory Gusse, Carl Abken, Katie Sevigny and Patrick Garley met one-on-one with 18 of Shelli Franckowiak’s students.

The object of the review is to both critique and encourage the students, and to put a different set of eyes than the instructors’ to the work. The students also get some insight into what a professional artist does.

As part of the program, students are required to maintain their Investigation Workbook, an extensive sketchbook where they document their inspirations, cultural and contextual influences, technical processes and analysis of other artists’ work, and reflect on their completed work. Reviewing these books is part of the guest interviews.

During the process students are encouraged to ask the pros a bit about themselves as well. Some of the stories these folks can tell are pretty funny.

But it’s all about art.