Students’ art on display

Creston Arts teamed up with Creston High School for a spring showcase of student artwork for this month’s featured artist at the Restored Depot. A variety of art was highlighted from each class.

Bailey Fry-Schnormeier, the high school’s art teacher, said the spring student showcase is a great opportunity for the students share their talent.

“It’s really exciting for them to see it outside of the studio and have it presented in this professional manner and setting and be able to bring their friends and their family over to see the show,” Fry-Schnormeier said. “You can see that they’re really proud and really enjoy getting to see their work in this space.”

Senior Brendan Millslagle has had his art on show a variety of times.

“I know I’ve probably had pieces in all of the school gallery shows there, and then I did actually design one of the murals that’s downtown. I also had stuff that went to the Hawkeye 10 conference up in Saint Alberts,” Millslagle said. “It is really validating because, in all the talk from the community with the murals, but also all of our gallery exhibits. It definitely sounds like they feel a sense of pride with how all these youth members of the community are creating.”

Millslagle has a couple of pieces in this month’s showcase, including a few done in his independent art class, something Fry-Schnormeier touts as an important part of a student’s art journey.

“The independent class is important because it allows students to build up a portfolio of the work that they’re really interested in doing,” Fry-Schnormeier said. “I like to think that in my classes they get the foundation for different materials and different techniques, and then in independent art, they really get to design their own curriculum. I’m there to help guide them, but they’re able to come up with their own proposals for projects and really explore the different themes or mediums that they maybe didn’t quite fit into their other classes.”

In general, Fry-Schnormeier said she is trying to help students see art as a viable career.

“We’ve been trying to bring in artists into the community through murals and guest artists into the school,” Fry-Schnormeier said. “They also got to take a trip to main frames in the fall, Main Frames studio in Des Moines, and they got to work with professional artists in their studio spaces and see how they make that work. I really try to expose them to different areas and different career paths, whether it’s their full-time job or it’s their side-hustle, they’re really able to explore their passion.”

The spring showcase is an opportunity for these students to show their own art in a professional manner.

“I definitely feel a lot of accomplishment going in there and seeing those different things,” Millslage said. “Of course, it’s nice to get compliments, but also just that other people are able to look at it and appreciate it and feel however about it.”

The students’ art will be on display for the rest of April. The art gallery at the Restored Depot is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and closed Sundays.