Pine Bluff High School Students Relay Experiences Through Art
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Kendahl Taylor’s mixed-media piece Black Power is one of the artworks featured in the 2020 Pine Bluff High School Art Exhibition.
PBHS students take inspiration from African American artists in Annual Exhibition
With the COVID-19 pandemic sending students home and closing museums to the public, a little extra creativity was needed to put together the latest Annual Pine Bluff High School Art Exhibition. The longtime showcase of PBHS art students is exclusively online in 2020.
The virtual exhibition includes 20 artworks and accompanying statements by the artists.
The 18 artists in the exhibition are:
Quinton Battles, Untitled, Scratchboard
Artiea Allen
Aiyana Arnold
Quinton Battles
Cason Blunt
Latavia Burrell
Zakiya Dean
Jameisha Donson
Elizabeth Duncan
Tyler Foots
Kalan Gardner
Rosalyn James
Terry Jasper
Tilton Rhodes
Aaliyha Shavers
Jayla Spellman
Grace Swygert
Kendahl Taylor
Dreion Thomas
This year’s themes were “Black Excellence” and “Black is Beautiful.”
PBHS teacher Shalisha Thomas — who earlier this year won a prestigious Milken Educator Award — lead the students and selected the artwork for the show. (Thomas is also teaching ASC’s Art I and Art II summer camps in July.)
“I charged the students with finding an African American artist’s style to help guide their artistic choices,” she said.
The students were inspired by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Elizabeth Catlett, Kerry James Marshall, Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley.
“Also, I asked the students to write about their experience and to tell me why they did what they did in their artwork,” Thomas said.
Viewers can read the artist statements alongside the works to gain a little more insight into their art pieces.
“The artworks reflect beauty and the achievements of African Americans,” Thomas said. “The students chose the subject matter and the medium. So the exhibition includes a large variety.”
(Left) Zakiya Dean, Double the Extraordinary, marker on paper; and her recreation.
The student artists created “masterful and insightful works that are a true joy to view,” said ASC Curator Chaney Jewell. “Students were able to create artworks that celebrate African Americans while also questioning our society and how minorities are represented. The student's thoughtful execution of their work shows great promise and they are sure to have a bright future ahead of them within the art field.”
This is Thomas’ third year to curate the show but her first time working on an online exhibition.
“Gathering my student's artwork and rereading their artist statements brought me so much joy,” she said. “One challenge that I faced was second-guessing myself on which pieces to include because my students have created great work this year. I wanted to make sure that I chose pieces that displayed a wide variety of techniques, subject matter, and artistic expression.”
“I believe everything came together really well in the end,” Thomas said.
The students were also offered an opportunity for extra credit, inspired by a popular photography “challenge” circulating on social media during quarantine. The original project was to restage famous works of art using people and household objects. In a twist of the original concept, the students were asked to recreate their own artworks.
“Many of the artists created works centering around black excellence or beauty they find in celebrities or influences outside of themselves,” Jewell explained. “But, by restaging their artwork with the artists themselves as the subject, they are now the example of Black being beautiful and Black Excellence.”
The exhibition is sponsored by Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co.
