NCWC News: Rocky Mount Senior High Art Exhibit at Dunn Center

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November 12, 2004

Rocky Mount Senior High Art Exhibit at Dunn Center

Rocky Mount, N.C.—The Civic Gallery at North Carolina Wesleyan College’s Dunn Center for the Performing Arts is featuring the artworks of Rocky Mount Senior High students from November 10 through December 12. The exhibit includes colorful paintings, curious and imaginative drawings, and creative works in clay, as well as three huge and wacky sculptures made of recycled materials.

The exhibition displays examples from Rocky Mount High School's art program including Art I, Art Studio I-IV, International Baccalaureate Studio, and Advanced Placement Art Studio classes, Pottery I and II classes, and the Art Club.

Art I is an introductory class focused on the elements and principles of design taught through a variety of media and introducing students to art history. Art classes II-IV continue the development of student ability through individual projects using various media and techniques.

In Pottery I, students learn to make functional and non-functional pieces. Pottery II meets at the Rocky Mount Art Center and focuses on making pottery on the potter's wheel. Students learn to make their own clay and glazes. They also learn how to fire a kiln.

The Art Club participates in a variety of activities. Each year the club selects community service projects to support the arts in Rocky Mount. During the "Down East Festival" the students paint faces for children or help children and adults make a pottery piece on a potter's wheel at the Rocky Mount Arts Center. This year they participated in the Keep America Beautiful Campaign sponsored by the City of Rocky Mount. The classes built "trash art" sculptures. All projects focused on endangered animals. Most of the materials used in the projects were recycled.

The art department is chaired by Myra Smith, who joined the RMSH faculty in 1998. Smith teaches Art I-IV and the international baccalaureate courses. She is a graduate of East Carolina University with a degree in art education with emphasis on ceramics. Before joining the RMSH faculty, Smith taught in Norfolk, Va., and internationally in Japan, Turkey, and Brazil. She is a native of Wilson, NC.

Matt Gibson teaches Art I and II and the pottery classes. Gibson joined the faculty in 2001. He is a graduate of East Carolina University with a BFA in ceramics and education and an MFA from Illinois State University. Gibson also teaches pottery for adults at the Rocky Mount Art Center. He graduated from Northern Nash High School in Rocky Mount. His wife, Kristen, teaches art at Cooper's Elementary.

Paisley Cloyd teaches Art I and II and photography. She also teaches journalism and publishes the yearbook. Cloyd joined the RMSH faculty in 2001. After 25 years in a manufacturing career, she returned to the teaching profession, coming home to Wilson, N.C., from Atlanta, Ga. She is a graduate of Barton College in Wilson with a degree in art education with emphasis in painting.

The Civic Gallery is open Monday – Friday, 9-5. Tours are welcome. For additional information, contact gallery director Everett Adelman at 252-985-5268.

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