Promoting the arts: Naples High student spearheads first countywide art show
Between landscape murals, self-portraits and clay sculptures, there wasn't an art form left out at the inaugural advanced placement (AP) studio art show held inside the Naples High School gymnasium Tuesday.
Naples High junior Madison Szittai, 17, was all smiles as she greeted fellow student artists at the gym where dozens of unique art pieces hung on white cloth boards or displayed on tables.
Madison spearheaded the show — with a little help from her teachers — in order to shine a light on art created by high school students in the Collier County School District. The event showcased the work of more than 50 AP art students from Naples, Barron Collier and Gulf Coast high schools.
"I did this to create community among the AP art students and also spread good art because I feel like not enough people get to see our work or realize what other people worked so hard on in the art room," Madison said.
As an AP art student, Madison takes several advanced courses in hopes of earning college credit. In order to receive credit, she has to create and submit 24 pieces of art, which is then reviewed and scored by a committee.
She realized, however, that hardly anyone would get to see her and her classmates artistic work.
That's when she reached out to her art teacher, Chelon Perez-Benitoa.
"(Madison) said, 'You know what? We don't get to show anyone our work. We work, work and work, send it to a few shows that no one gets to see, and send it to the AP board for review.' So I thought it was an awesome idea to do this," Perez-Benitoa said.
Madison's school friends thought so too.
Jewel Hovland, 17, was excited to show off her artwork Tuesday.
"It's scary but it's super fun to see other people's work and talk about your art with other people, especially if they know a lot about art. It's like a mini-critique while having fun at the same time," Jewel said.
Madison showcased four of her art pieces, two of which were self-portraits.
While some schools weren't able to attend this year, Leslie Loughran, teacher at Barron Collier, jumped at the chance to show off her students works after hearing about the art show from Madison.
Loughran hopes this event becomes an annual thing.
"(Madison) started something that next year maybe someone from Barron will work with a student from Naples High on a project, which will make it that much larger next year," Loughran said.
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