Every Aromas-San Juan student shines in art exhibition

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Anzar High School hosted an extraordinary two-evening art show featuring close to 900 pieces, one from every student in the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District. Opened to the community on Feb. 25, the showcase presented a wide range of artistic media, including drawing, painting, photography, woodwork and ceramics.

“We’ve never done something like this district-wide,” said Curriculum and Instruction Director Jivan Dhaliwal. “I just think when students can show their parents their creativity, it’s a very inspiring and beautiful thing.”

Superintendent Barbara Dill-Varga, an established artist herself, said she was “astounded” by the level of creativity in the students’ works. 

“What we’re trying to say to them is every one of you is an artist and can express yourself in some fashion,” she said. “And they’re just thrilled to see their art. They stand next to their piece and have their picture taken with it. It just gives me a lot of joy.”

The exhibition came about, Dhaliwal said, by way of the annual San Benito County Arts Showcase held last April at the Veterans Memorial Building in Hollister. That event featured over 3,700 pieces of art, including performances and sculpture, created by students from across San Benito County.

After attending that three-hour-long show, visual and performing arts teacher Sarah Honeyhume said she thought there needed to be a multi-day exhibition, involving student field trips to the site as well as evening showings for parents.

“The students chose which artwork they wanted to display,” she said, “and then I collected them from the teachers, mounted them and labeled them. It’s everyone from preschool all the way up to grade eight, and then our high school students.”

The piece 10-year-old Violet chose to show was her design of four different stamps illustrating aspects of California life: poppies, surfing, the state gem—benitoite—and a representation of The Golden State.

“I think it’s really good to have all this art here in one place,” Violet said, “so everyone can look at it and admire it. I thought there would be only like 50 or 60 things, but there are hundreds!”

The pieces reflect the integration of the district’s curriculum with visual art, media arts, theater arts, dance and music. To illustrate lessons on prehistoric life, for example, the students created artwork on paper taped to the bottom of their seats, working from below as if they were creating cave art.

In another example, Honeyhume said that students drew cells they had seen under a microscope, then learned watercolor techniques to enhance their observations.  

“I think it’s important as a student to engage in other content areas,” she said. “It helps them express their creativity, helps them try out new techniques and materials and really get to become artists.”

The work was arranged around the Anzar gym by age groups and then by thematic groups. Among them were self portraits of the students as Egyptian pharaohs, tennis shoe designs inspired by candy types, landscapes of majestic canyons, quilt blocks honoring U.S. servicemen, snowmen on shiny, dark blue paper, horses made from toilet paper rolls, even brightly colored designs of mathematics problems.   

“We have so many students,” Honeyhume said, “with such creative ideas and amazing imaginations. I think it’s important to have them shine in this way because you can create visual art regardless of how well you are doing academically.” 

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