ITC Students Are Stepping Out to Show Art is Everywhere

Sophomore Tellease Frazier made a Hunter × Hunter manga design. Aaliyah Nickens made a design centered around apparel brand Bape and its trademark monkey. Junior Amrell Bender designed a chronology of The Weeknd’s albums, showing his transition as an artist and a person through his music releases. Senior Aleda Guerrero featured Disney Cars animated star Lightning McQueen and his catchphrase ‘Kachow!’
 
Thanks to a grant provided by the SCSD Educational Foundation, students in ITC Studio Art Teacher Laurie Alfieri’s classes (and the school’s Art Club) had the opportunity to design a pair of canvas shoes – to create, keep, and show off!
 
The grant provided about 125 pairs of shoes, as well as an assortment of acrylic paints, paint pens, waterproof sealer, and more. At the last minute, Ms. Alfieri added a request for some white trucker hats, which some students themed to match their shoes.
 
“Artists researched and created thumbnail sketches to create their theme,” Ms. Alfieri explained. “We centered their idea around using the Elements of Art and the principles of design to make it stand out. I challenged students to consider foreground, middle ground and background, trying to bring their elements together in a unified, harmonious way. In Studio Art, we have students who are passionate about the arts, and many who are still learning or may not have a high appreciation for the arts. It was my hope, knowing that high school students love shoes, that it would be a project that would motivate all students in my classes to appreciate the arts and see that art is truly everywhere around us.”
 
After sealing and waterproofing their creations, some students chose to wear them around school; others said their work was too precious to wear and planned to display them proudly at home. The student artists noted that classmates have asked if their designs are for sale; some artists even created their designs with friends or family members in mind. One student mentioned that her best friend has cancer and asked for a pair featuring koi fish and cherry blossoms, which are now in progress.
 
Ms. Alfieri noted that the project was a great way to connect students – who, at ITC, are all studying in assorted CTE focus areas but all now share this artistic interest.
 
Faris Khan, a sophomore in his school’s Automotive Technology CTE program, said this project helped spark an idea for his future career.
 
“I’ve been doing art since first grade,” he shared. “I’d like to be a mechanic… but this made me think about how I’d really like to try car wraps, car spray painting, things like that to show my artistic ability. For this project, it was all freestyle… I just kept going until I liked what I saw! My favorite part was outlining the design. I used multiple layers and highlighting so it really pops.”
 
Senior Mikeal Stokes, also an Automotive Technology student, said this project took his career plans even a step further.
 
“The first thing I want to do is modeling cars,” Mikeal said. “I’d like to take a normal Dodge, for example, and change the design of it, make it look different. I’d like to be part of changing the body of the car, how it’s shaped, how it’s painted.”  
 
Mikeal noted that he had been drawing since he was young, and even previously painted a pair of shoes with his mother for fun. But this project in school, he said, led him to think ahead, to his future career.
 
“These kids are ridiculously talented,” Ms. Alfieri said as she watched her class chatting over their various shoe designs. “I’m so proud of them.”
 
Thank you to the SCSD Educational Foundation for funding this creative #SCSDArts project! To learn more about the Educational Foundation and the grant projects they support, please visit https://scsdfoundation.com/.