March 12 arts students of EWGSHS met in the library for the YAM art show, also known as the Young Artist Month art show. From Ms. Lind’s explorations in visual art to Mrs. Pichette’s sculpture viewing station, there were many varieties and styles of art.



What was so different about the artwork was not only the show itself, but the weeks leading up to the show. Many Senior Portfolio students could be seen wearing white t-shirts with an unknown shape (meaning unknown to any non-art student) painted on the front. Also, the display in front of the art rooms was covered in flyers featuring Popeye the Sailor yelling ‘I YAM what I YAM, and that’s all that I YAM’. There was also the giant paper mache costume that senior Haley Cotton and Ms. Pichette could be seen wearing around the school. The costume was in fact a yam, (which is similar to a sweet potato). The yam represented YAM, Young Artist Month, which is the nationwide observance of the work of young artists. In order to celebrate the month, the fine arts department hosted an art show joined with a chorus concert.



In walking into the library the first thing that one notices is the giant portraits. Known as “monumental portraits,” they were drawn using chalk pastels, oil pastels or pencil, and were portraits of the many Senior Portfolio A.P students of Ms. Lind. Further wandering leads visitors to view many of the winning artworks of the Scholastic competition, the most recent completion for the art department.



The most unique part of the show had to be the Sculpture 1 Interactive Viewing Booth, an invention of Ms. Pichette’s, featuring the plaster carvings of her sculpture 1 class. Covered with a black cloth, art goers could view the sculptures in compete darkness with only a single lamp as a source of light. When asked, Ms. Pichette called it “Yamtastic” and the main purpose was to allow the viewer to not only “view the sculptures by themselves but also allow [them] to pick [their] favorite sculpture and place it in front of the light to observe the effects of the light on the sculpture.” She explained it was much like sculpture parks where people can walk around large areas filled with sculptures and see how sculpture move when surrounded by light. Among the many other pieces of art were the duck stamp hopefuls which are to be entered into the annual Duck Stamp Competition. The YAM artwork was in no short supply.

But it was the Mix-off of Ms. Pichette’s painting 2 class that gave the YAM show the right amount of humor. A newly created competition in the small 4-person class of painting 2, the mix-off involves finding a color that is not easily created by mixing two colors and trying to recreate it with the tempera paint. The color of that night was the jeans of one of the art goers. Participants included three of the four students, Ms. Pichette, and even Mr. Zienowicz. The winner of the mix-off was painting 2 student Miranda Fournier, who also is the official winner of the first round of mix-offs that took place in the class. In the eyes of many of the students, the art show lived up to the hype of the past couple of weeks. Art goers found the YAM art show was entertaining, intriguing, and plain funny. The only mystery left is what the art department has in store for EWGSHS next.