School news
Art students visit the Clark Art Institute
On Thursday, November 20, the Art Department took a field trip to The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.
Students in AP Art History, AP Photography, AP Art and Advanced Art took a tour that explored the theme of Disruption and Emergence in works from the permanent collection. While in the galleries students took a close look at four different works of art, wrote poems and letters in response to those pieces and then made collages in the art studio inspired by the paintings and the themes.
About the trip, Ruth Stallard, a tenth grade student in Dr. Gravel’s AP Art History class said, “I loved going to The Clark Art Institute. Their collection was beautiful and fascinating, and the whole class was very focused and asked thoughtful questions about the art. This was one of my favorite field trips I’ve ever been on and I loved going with my class. It was a wonderful experience.”
Addison Blanchard, also in tenth grade studying Art History, commented about a specific painting. She stated, “I really liked the Women of Amphissa by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. I had seen the piece before online and had no idea it was at The Clark. I love how the artist painted the clothing and the hair of the women, and how the light was captured. It’s a big piece and there is a lot to look at and discover.”
Art students with their collages
Addison Blanchard, Nyna Lewallen and Jay Allen in the galleries
Matilda and Priscilla Richardson in the studio with their collages.
After lunch, students had time to explore The Clark’s collection. Nyna Lewallen, a tenth grade Art History student, described the work that caught her eye when she stated, “I was most drawn to Little Dancer of Thirteen Years, by Edgar Degas. As a dancer I’ve heard so much about Degas in general, but specifically about this sculpture. The girl sculpted has a feeling of calmness and relaxation, which is a stark contrast to how intense ballet can be, and it was great to see one of the renditions of this sculpture close up.”
Marlena Farinas, a senior in Ms. Jimerson’s AP Drawing class, summed up her experience by writing, “My reaction to the Clark Art Institute’s collection was wonder. It was so beautiful and had so many different and unique pieces of art. I loved so many of the different kinds of painting and textures that were in many of the artworks.” That sentiment was echoed by Zara Paczkowski, an 11 th grade student in Ms. Piana’s Advanced Studio Art, who wrote, “I felt my experience with walking through the galleries was relaxing and provided me with the opportunity to look at a variety of historical pieces. Throughout this experience, my favorite part was looking at the statues, as I loved seeing the detail and effort they put into making such realistic art works.”
Thank you so much to The Clark Art Institute for their excellent educational programming, the bus reimbursement program and to everyone who helped make this trip possible.
Joshua Byrne with his poem "Summer Squall."
Students in the European Paintings Gallery.
Maya Sluka observing Renoir's The Bay of Naples
8th Grade State House Field Trip
On May 2 the 8th grade class took their annual field trip to our state capitol to tour the State House, participate in a mock trial in the Supreme Court, and tour the Vermont Historical Society Museum exhibits. We were also able to see Addison Blanchard, 8th grade student from Woodstock who is serving as a Legislative Page during this final 6 weeks of the legislative session (photo below). Some of us were lucky enough to catch our 3 Windsor County Senators during a break in the Senate chamber where students had the opportunity to ask them questions. Before leaving the State House students were able to watch the House of Representatives begin their session from the galleries. The whole class was recognized from the House floor by Woodstock Representative Tesha Buss to a round of applause, before exiting for a class photo on the front steps and then boarding the buses to return home.
EARTH DAY
Earth Day 2024 was a perfect sunshiney day for students in grades 7-12 to connect with the earth and each other. For the last two hours of the day, students engaged in workshops that included: making reusable beeswax food wraps, crocheting a hanging plant hanger, doing bird painting with VINS, making art from fruits and veggies, making wildflower seed bombs, learning to grow and harvest microgreens, learning vegan cooking skills with Heather Wolfe, making their own eco-friendly cleaning products including a shoe deodorizer (hello spring athletes!), greening up campus, learning from Change the World Kids, and creating a new perennial pollinator hedgerow. Seventh graders hiked through the King Farm and a group of high school students helped five different classes at Woodstock Elementary School perform stewardship of their campus, Vail Field, and their outdoor classroom on Mount Peg. This was a tremendous effort where students and staff came together to create, pause, and practice stewardship. A huge thanks to everyone involved!
Works by ecoart students on display at SculptureFest
A hidden world, a sunken ship, an abandoned picnic, an immersive web and an abstract expression of moving water… These are just some of the ideas expressed at the Land Trust trail by 16 talented Eco-Art students.
The pieces created are a part of SculptureFest and the community and artists enjoyed an art reception on Sunday. This environmental exhibit is always open to the public, stop by anytime on the trail located between Prosper Rd and the King Farm to enjoy their installations.
An excerpt from Aleks Cirovic’s artist statement about her art piece Stability:
“I wished for this piece to represent a part of myself, a part that I have lost. One that has balance, respect, and curiosity surrounding the past. The surrounding space represents what surrounds me.”
Heather Wolfe still cooking
Heather Wolfe, dietician and nutritionist at Dartmouth Hitchcock and author of the cookbook Sustainable Kitchen, returned this week to the school kitchen where she took her first cooking class and decided her career path. Heather joined this year’s middle school cooking class to share her passion for healthy, sustainable living, and some recipes from her book.
Students made hummus with her and were able to sample homemade kale chips, energy balls, aquafaba meringue cookies, and watermelon basil water. No leftovers! Here you see two photos of Heather in the WUHSMS teaching kitchen - one from 1997 (making homemade pasta) and the other with this year's ms class! (More connections - some people will remember Heather’s mother, Karen Hawkes who taught French at Woodstock for many years. Heather is married to Woodstock social studies teacher Nick Wolfe.)
