From murals, to the hallways, to the College and Career Center; art is found in many places around Spectrum High School. Why is art important in school one might ask? There are many benefits to having art in schools, and that’s no exception to Spectrum.

“I feel like it’s important to have art in a school,” says student Arianna Bechthold. “It allows children to express their feelings.”

Spectrum’s art teachers have a huge impact on their students and have helped them bring their ideas into physical representations.

“I fully believe that art is essential to have in schools because it gives students that creative outlet and a place where they can use the other side of their brain,” says Ms. Honn, a Spectrum art teacher. Another art teacher, Mrs. Favre, said, “Studies show that participating in art, doing art, seeing art, can really help with mental health and just brings things up and makes people happier.”

Each artist has created a piece of art that is on display in the College and Career Center. Their inspiration and motivations for the art come from just everyday items. “We had to choose an inanimate object and then choose a living object, usually an animal, said Elizabeth Larson, an art student. “I chose a parakeet and a pear because they have a similar shape and a similar name.” Sometimes, inspiration comes from a student’s feelings. “So what inspired that artwork was, essentially I was hungry,” said Arianna. “i just always liked chicken tenders, and we had to choose something that was like non living and form it into something that was living. And I thought that whales were easy to draw.” 

From some chicken tender whales to a pear parakeet, the creativity of Spectrum students is endless. With the art pieces being showcased all around the school, take some time to appreciate the artistic abilities of all of the students. Every artwork is an outlet and every artist was inspired, even if just by their lunch.