Art, color and freedom of expression reigned in the hallways and classrooms of Glacier High School Friday and Saturday.

More than 200 high school students assembled at the school to participate in the 2014 Montana Art Interscholastics workshop event.

A bevy of art workshops were held between Glacier and Flathead Community College using traditional mediums such as oil and watercolors as well as more unconventional forms of edible art.

From silk marbling, printmaking, pottery and wire jewelry making to felting, wheel throwing and graffiti, there was a medium for every student artist to delve into. 

Students were able to attend three workshops and a critique session under the theme “Intergalactic Disco Carnival.”

Hallways were transformed into galleries with student work brought in for critique sessions led by University of Montana art students. 

“What’s nice about it is that it exposes students to a collegiate art atmosphere,” said 2014 Montana Art Interscholastics chairman and Glacier art teacher Josh Lancaster. 

He also noted that students had an hour and 45 minutes in each workshop to learn techniques they might not have time for in a class period.

“Professional artists lead these workshops — artists working in the field all the time. They get to show them techniques we don’t have time to show them,” Lancaster said. “Then, kids have a good chunk of time to work on a piece of artwork.”

The two-day event is also a place for students to share their work and check out what other students are working on. Saturday, a small group of students gathered and brought along a piece of their artwork for a critique led by University of Montana student Katie Facklam.

As each student passed around their selected artwork, their peers made comments on elements and principles a specific piece used such as light, pattern, layering and symmetry or asymmetry. 

Facklam said high school is a time when art students dabble with a multitude of mediums to learn the foundational elements and principles of art.

“By incorporating critique in settings like this it gives the students a chance to understand the power of the skill that they’re learning. It also gives them a chance to understand how their work can evoke meaning and how they can use those elements,” Facklam said.

Facklam said that many students who walk into the classroom are unnerved at first.

“So many kids come into these critiques saying ‘my work’s bad,’ or ‘I don’t belong here,’” Facklam said,  adding that they quickly learn it’s a safe place to learn and discuss the success of each work.

“It shows each work is successful and really isn’t comparable to the students next to them or displayed in the hallway. Each piece has different strengths,” Facklam said.

Some of the critiques can stir up emotions and confidence in the young students. Facklam was particularly struck by one student. 

“She drew this incredibly powerful, beautiful, work of art. Everyone talked about how it made them feel and it was calming and she was so touched. She had low-self esteem. It was a beautiful moment. She was sitting right there,” Facklam said pointing to an empty desk. “How did she put it? She choked up a little bit and said ‘nobody has ever said anything about my work before.’ She said, ‘you guys make me feel so good.’”

Facklam set up her critique so that the artist would remain silent while others interpreted it much like what they would have to do in a gallery or museum where an artist wouldn’t necessarily be present to provide an explanation. Of course, at the end of the critique she let the artists “divulge their intent.”

Flathead High School senior McKenzie Lane passed around a sailboat image created using a faux encaustic technique, which requires layers of acrylic paint and wax. Facklam then asked students to talk about composition and placement of the sailboat within the work while they passed it around.

Troy High School sophomore Erin Landis commented on the layering effect.

 “I love how it’s not solid. I love how the background is not one solid color, it’s patchy, it ties it all together,” Landis said.

Another student remarked on the simple design of the boat tied into a textured background of color that played between light and dark.

“What is she doing in the background that makes this so dynamic?” Facklam asked. “She has got layers of beautiful pattern in the background of this painting that makes it so dynamic it really brings this piece to life.”

Lane, who sails, said it represented how her family sets sail rather than coming in after a storm.

“In my class we have really, really planned out projects and have to research everything, and here we were given colors and wax, scrapers and paint and it was so much fun,” Lane said.

Wyatt Christopherson, a senior at Florence-Carlton High School, handed around his smartphone, which has a photo of a felt tip pen and water drawing of an unusual take on a mermaid with a realistic fish tail. Christopherson said he was unable to bring the physical artwork because he had sold it.

“I like how it’s not a stereotypical mermaid,” said Troy High School freshman Isabel Gough.

“It’s like a siren,” said another student.

Christopherson talked about how he completed the piece and researched fish for an accurate fin based on silver salmon. He originally planned to do a watercolor, but when he drew in the outlines in pen first, the water caused it too bleed, producing an unexpected and pleasing effect.

“So I just used the pen and the water to blend. It created these purples somehow,” Christopherson said.

Glacier High School junior Kaylee Jukich-Fish presented a charcoal portrait that conveyed intensity through dark, bold strokes contrasted by white that Facklam said brought the portrait to life. 

“You really have to commit,” Facklam said about going dark. “It shows her boldness as an artist. You did a phenomenal job with your use of value, use of line and the conviction with using it.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.