Art gallery recognizes Creston seniors

Creston seniors celebrated the beginning of their weekend a little differently than normal with the help of Creston Arts’ First Friday gallery showing.

An annual partnership between Creston Arts and Creston High School, seniors have the chance to show off their artwork as the April featured artist at the Creston Arts Gallery. Students participating in the show present work from their independent art classes.

“It’s a class that seniors can take if they’ve taken all the other art classes and show a sense of pride in their work and willing to be independent artists creating their own designs. They get to design their own curriculum for the semester and then we talk through it,” CHS art teacher Bailey Fry-Schnormeier said. “In the end they have a body of work they can present for scholarships and to get into shows and colleges and such.”

As an independent study, students are able to work with whatever medium they like. Some students, like Jaq Kenyon, have a variety of art genres they work in.

“I really like more abstract stuff, but then I also like the stained glass. I just think it’s really fun and almost a forgotten medium,” Kenyon said.

Other students like Joe Scarpello-Moon are sticking to paper, though the tools used are just as diverse as mediums. A number of his pieces are tarot cards, using water colors, oils and even burning parts of the paper.

“Before I started, I was really intrigued by this horror movie I watched, ‘Tarot,’ and I was just really intrigued by all the history and what they mean,” Scarpello-Moon said. “I kind of just thought of purgatory, and I based a design off of it with the flower being split with the dying side and the living side, stuck between the living and death.”

While all the students are passionate about their work, it was discovered in different ways. Scarpello-Moon said he was born with the love of art while Kenyon said her passion was nurtured at school.

“I always kind of liked it but never really thought I was that good at it,” Kenyon said. “Then when I got into high school and Mrs. Fry was there, she just really encouraged me and inspired me to really stick with it and give it a shot.”

Some students bring multiple passions together in their creations.

“My theme is more of things that bring me peace and - I love nature, I have tattoos of bugs, I love things like that, so it really inspired me,” senior Mica Williams said. “My favorite is probably my tiles. It took me a very long time. I’ve been working on it since January. I worked with many ceramic pieces, glazing, everything like that, but with this project specifically, I learned so many new things that I never thought I would have.”

While Williams’ favorite medium is ceramics, she has plenty of other art too. Either way, it all focuses on her love for nature.

All of the seniors’ art will be moving out of the Restored Depot early on April 21 in order to be present at the Hawkeye 10 Art Show. The annual art show is held at different H10 schools each year, with Creston Community School District receiving the honors for 2025.

More than 1,000 works of art from more than 200 students will be available to view from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 in Creston High School. The show is hosted in Creston every 11 years.

Until then, the art will continue to be on display in the Creston Arts Gallery at the Restored Depot. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.