This year’s mural workshop at Merrill High School was different from past ones. With the new schedule change at Merrill High School, a new space was created for tiered study rooms. The Art department created a Contemporary Art gallery in these rooms. This was no easy task. To avoid copyright issues, letters were sent to obtain permission from some of the most well-known contemporary artists of the day. Seven artists graciously granted permission for 13 students to work solo to complete a 3’x3’ canvas reproduction of their work.
Students were selected to participate in the 12th annual Honors Art Workshop by demonstrating outstanding artistic talent and commitment. After some required preliminary work, they spent an entire week of their summer vacation devoted to painting in order to leave a small piece of their talents forever at Merrill High School. Three additional students sculpted multiple tiles which were assembled creating three relief murals that were also installed into one of the tiered study rooms.
An annual Open House and Art Show honoring the 16 student mural artists will be held March 3 from 1–4 p.m. at the high school. Recognition of the artists will take place at 3 p.m. in the commons. This year’s artists include Eve Akey, Rachel Berg, Allison Smith, Ananda VanWie, Makyah Goetsch, Bailey Iwen, Betsy Schmidt, Kaitlyn Arndt, Eliana Emmer, Erin Lemke, Kate Peterson, Skylar Stubbe, Zoe Slewitzke, Emerson Millis, Olivia Baumann and Cristiana Wood.
