Old Rochester students color outside the lines at Annual Art Show

MARION — Sculptures, paintings and mixed media projects lined the walls of Uncle Jon’s Coffee as Old Rochester Regional High School students celebrated their 14th Annual Art Show on Wednesday, May 21.

Eleven students from the AP Art and Design class and the Honors Art III class showed their work at the show, including seniors Gio DeSouza, Phoenix Ducharme, Lily Hinds, Owen Osterday, Madison Spangler, Tessa Winslow, Kelsi Chick, Eden Dupre, Cy Huggins, Devyn Southern and junior Dayvie Zuckerman.

Zuckerman, a Marion resident and Honors Art III student, is primarily inspired by cars when crafting her art.

One of her mixed media collages about automobiles was constructed with help from her father, who works with cars and identified the various parts of an engine for Zuckerman as she was assembling the piece.

“My dad helped me with all the car art I do,” she said.

Additionally, Zuckerman created a self-portrait that is inspired by Van Gogh and features swirling movement in the background and ethereal blues and greens.

Osterday, a Marion resident and AP Art and Design student, centered his work around the themes of persistence and permanence.

His sculpture “House of Cards” is composed to appear as though the cards are blowing away.

“It’s supposed to represent structural instability, and I really focused on materials that would represent the instability of the house, as well as the image, because the cards are blowing away,” said Osterday.

Osterday also made a mixed media jellyfish sculpture that is made of trash from his house.

“This one represents trash taking over the natural environment,” he said.

As a graduating senior, Osterday said the Old Rochester art department “really developed my skill,” and he will attend Roger Williams University in the fall to major in architecture.

Old Rochester art teacher Kate Butler said the art show is an important event for both the students and their families.

“There’s an appreciation for the hard work and dedication that they put into this all year long,” she said.

Butler congratulated the featured artists on their persistence and work throughout the year.

“I just want to congratulate the students for working through the frustrating moments that came up with artistic blocks and things that popped up along the way that were roadblocks,” she said. “They worked through them, and it speaks to their perseverance and dedication and their commitment to making art.”