- December 25, 2024
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Visitors touring the current exhibit at ArtHaus may notice a common trend with all of the artists whose art is on the wall.
The paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures at the art gallery are all made by Volusia County teachers. The exhibit opened with a reception on Thursday, Sept. 21, and will run until Friday, Nov. 10.
For some teachers, like Michelle Wise, this was a first-time event for showcasing art. Wise, a ceramics teacher at Mainland High School, based her art piece off a photograph she had taken at the cabin where she grew up.
Wise said her career in teaching art formed as a result of her love for education and the arts. This eventually led her to a new career where she could help students find their own talent within the art world.
"I've just always kind of dabbled in it as a young adult but I've always ... drawn for a hobby," Wise said. "As I got older and had kids, I decided to go back to school for art."
Jennifer Newell, an art teacher at Atlantic High, is showcasing her ceramics at the gallery. Newell said the pieces she has on display are demonstrations that she has done for students in her classes and are products of the first year that she began teaching.
Newell, who only began teaching last year, has been making pottery for about 20 years, mainly as a hobby. One piece was part of a Greek vessel project where Newell had students mixing pieces together to bring together classic and contemporary styles.
"I really like to blend," Newell said. "I like to find the organic textures, then you combine them with a more structured form."
Art teacher Bryan Carson has used his artwork to make people aware of what has happened and is happening in nature. Carson, a teacher at DeLand High has been teaching in the county for around 13 years.
The painting on display at ArtHaus depicts a military boot with a brown tree snake and kingfishers — a representation of when the snakes were accidentally introduced to Guam by the U.S. Military during World War II. According to Carson, the kingfishers did not have any natural predators and were killed off by the snakes by the late 1980s.
"All of the work I create is about animals that are either endangered or in the process of losing their habitat and their environment," Carson said.
Stephen Cornado, a Beach Elementary and Palm Terrace Elementary art teacher, based his painting off his love for traveling to New Orleans. His piece on display at ArtHaus was inspired by an early morning run he took in the French Quarter during one trip.
When Cornado saw trucks going through the streets cleaning up after the previous parties he found it to be "just a moment I thought was kind of nice when I was jogging."
As for his journey to making art an everyday part of his life, Cornado has known since a young age this was important to him.
"Ever since I was small this was what I always knew I was going to do," Cornado said.
