First Fridays

New art events to be aware of.

By Kelly Hu

Lack of a proper area and chance for students to get involved with art drew attention to the need for a form of expression, which led to the creation of First Friday events.

“I brought my guitar everyday in the beginning of the school year, and just played to my friends on my crappy speaker,” sophomore Rublen Estella said. “Then I found out about Dreyfus’s classroom, and she offered the opportunity for me to perform with her classroom speakers [on stage]. She’s really welcoming and officially started Wednesday Open-Mics, so I decided to bring in my guitar every Wednesday to perform.”

Estella was one of the few who participated in the weekly Open-Mic events. Those aware of the event all agreed that it was a great idea, but it had little audience. As a solution, English & Performing Arts Teacher Jennifer Dreyfus decided to collaborate with the departmentwide First Friday event, with further advertisement that attracts more audience.

This year, the VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) Department started doing First Fridays. Their ultimate goal is to introduce and familiarize the AHS Community with the different VAPA opportunities available. These events occur on the first Friday of every month, rotating between the different VAPA professions, showing the specialties of each one. The art programs consist of photography, ceramics, jewelry, sculpting, and the three levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced art classes. The idea has been around for several years, but it wasn’t until this school year that they finally made it possible.

The original idea was influenced by nationwide events where they have community-wide art exhibitions occasionally. Ceramics teacher and VAPA Department Chair Merav Kagan wants to raise awareness and inform students of the various course opportunities; to give students a chance to showcase their talents, and provide opportunities for students to engage in entertaining activities all around campus.

“I want students to be aware, to get involved, even if they’re not taking the course, [so] they can still do the fun things that are happening. There are a lot of different art opportunities that people don’t realize they have, and it’s shattering to see people of talent just missing out on these opportunities,” Kagan said.

On October 7th, the first ever First Friday event- the Scavenger Hunt- occurred. Being the first event, there was minimal knowledge of its existence. Senior Kevin Law is one of the few who participated, and he claims it to be a great opportunity to discover places around campus that may be overlooked. The objective was to first find locations that displayed a part of the arts program, pose with something related to that art class, and then snap photos to submit.

“Maybe they don’t know that there’s a photography class,” Law said, “but in the scavenger hunt you have to take a selfie in front of the photography room… do a pose on the stage in the quad… or do a high kick in front of the dance room. And so you kind of discover what’s out there.”

The First Friday events that happened so far aren’t on a huge scale, mainly due to the lack of publicity and advertising. The VAPA teachers claim to have tried advertising, and they understand that since this is a new event, it’ll take time and will for it to become a tradition. Students try to help with advertising and sharing the news both vocally and socially. The efforts put into preparing each of these events call for more audience participation.

“It takes time for people to know what’s happening,” Senior Taylor Neely said, “and it usually takes a few weeks to prepare each month’s event, sometimes nearly the whole month… I hope for more people to show up, to not only experience the fun, but to also help share the word for all the art divisions.”

Another reason the VAPA Department feels in need of this opportunity is due to the shrinkage of the department, as well as students’ neglect for art electives.

“We started with 7 teachers in the department, now we have 5 as the department shrinks,” states Kagan. “People gone aren’t getting replaced. And the thing is that- teacher’s motivations are also driven by the amount of students who sign up for these courses, and so the lack of enthusiasm in the area really deflates the mood.”

The pandemic was also a complication, not only for teachers, but for students as well.

“Because of the pandemic, they don’t get proper training in school such as instruments-” said Dreyfus. “They missed those opportunities, and when they enter high school, they don’t understand them so they didn’t choose them. These programs are fed by what students have access to in middle school, where they start finding interest in what they want to learn. [This] affected the art programs across the nation due to student’s decline in enrollment, and so these First Fridays are trying to get things back on track.”

The VAPA Leaders understand that things are rolling out slowly, but they have their plans. Kagan plans to create their own Social Media where they can share events and news to a bigger audience. So far, they only have minor advertisements, such as fliers, and morning announcements, but they believe there’s more, because students deserve these opportunities.

Those who are involved in the First Friday events are furthering their interest in the arts program. Kagan calls out to all artists, to not hesitate and experience them. They strongly believe the AHS community has many hidden talents, and it just takes a little push to find them. Many who have participated in these events feel accomplished, and will encourage others to join. “Keep your dreams at heart… [and] when the time is right, do your best to go all out while you have the chance,” Estella said. “Don’t leave regrets for yourself.”

EVENTS

October: Scavenger Hunt

Photo Courtesy of Kevin Law

Senior Kevin Law is “strumming the guitar” outside of Music Teacher Vernon

Miyata’s classroom.

November: Art Gallery

Photo Courtesy of Kelly Hu Ceramic Student’s projects

are showcased on the stairs going up the boiler room for the Art Gallery.