The walls of the Dartmouth Cultural Center, located at 404 Elm Street, have been brightened with the work of young Dartmouth artists.

Dartmouth High School’s Advanced Placement Art class will have its work on display until Saturday, March 23, with a reception set to be held Friday, March 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Each piece is made from an array of mediums, but aim to achieve the same purpose: express a specific emotion or theme of the artist's choice. 

Jenna Rock, whose art focuses on the theme of judgment, said, “The spirit of AP Art is to experiment.”

Therefore her pieces are largely made with acrylic paint — a medium Rock was not comfortable with using prior to the class. 

“I wanted to … visually express how our judgment can shape people’s perception of either yourself or other people,” Rock said.

She said her favorite piece she’s done for the class is titled, “Icarian Pride,” and incorporates the use of gold paint and is reminiscent of renaissance-style art. 

“It’s very exciting to try and I’m overall happy with how it came out,” Rock added.

The course’s teacher, Christine McFee, said she is “proud of these kids.” 

McFee emphasized how hard the students work, adding how the show adds a sort of “break” for them, but also an opportunity to re-evaluate where they are in their project as the due date is still a few weeks away.

Tamryn Heys said his art follows both his own transgender experience, but also that of others. 

Heys said the challenge with his topic was the idea of others' perception of his art. He explained how it is a personal topic and leaving it open to interpretation from others is daunting.

Similar to Rock, Amelia Shaw decided to experiment with varying mediums, such as chalk pastels, to explore the concept of imagination and how people perceive it within the world around them.

Samantha Brunette’s art focused on how anxiety presents itself for different people. The art is largely made using charcoal to emphasize the darkness to the feeling. However, she also used pastels in one of her pieces to juxtapose how the feeling can be bright and “in your face.”

Fiona Jason said, “My projects are about the things that I collect and have as objects and what they mean to my life.”

One project was a box with a three-dimensional display of a person sitting among plants, which is meant to be a nod toward Jason’s own collection of plants. Another project highlights her jewelry collection through a paper that can be folded into different shapes. 

“I get bored of doing things that are flat really easily, and so if I am going to be working on something for a long time, I need it to be really engaging.”

Lauryn Medieros’ project uses digital photography to express feelings of comfort and discomfort. For example, one photo is a close up of a person’s eyes as a bright light shines through while another displays a stuffed penguin laying in bed.

Michael Burke’s art follows themes of physical intimacy, which is “something that’s really important to me — that’s cool and interesting,” he said.

Burke’s art was made digitally — a medium that has grown in popularity in the classroom in recent years due to the increased access, according to McFee.

The art of students Kaelyn Barreira and Chase Roderiques will also be on display.

Dartmouth Cultural Center President Jill Law said, “Every year it gets better” — and that’s not a reflection on students from years prior. “Christine and the rest of the staff are doing such a wonderful job with the students that they are really Gung Ho about the show and it’s a delight to have them.”

Law added how this show adds another dimension to their education as they have the opportunity to hang up their work and demonstrate the artists that they are. 

“I think community involvement is really important and to bring to light the opportunity for the public to come in and see their work is just the beginning,” Law said. “As an artist myself, I couldn't be more pleased to have them here.”