Essence of Self Image & Motifs Across Societies

This November, forty students of Camas High School’s Integrated Arts and Academics (IAA) program will exhibit their personalized and meaningful artwork informed by academic studies. 

The Freshmen cohort created oil pastel, self portraits based on a journey into their personal “essence” as they wrote memoir poetry in their English class. The Sophomores will show mixed media, altered books based on their personal response and mindful connections to academic content. The theme of “motif” helped them to find those connections in world civilizations and religions (World History), ecological systems (Biology), and the novel “The Secret Lives of Bees” (English).

In its second year, IAA students have the opportunity to study connections between academics concepts and themes while integrating that content with the arts. This makes their learning more relevant and personally meaningful. 

“For our youth, the opportunity to show their art publicly with a live audience makes for an authentic and unforgettable experience. Students will be interacting with the public at the First Friday Artist Reception which will give them public speaking experience, and it will undoubtedly be exhilarating and affirming for them. We are grateful to the Camas Public Library for their tremendous support of our program’s students,” commented Gina Mariotti Shapard, Art Teacher and Program Leader.

The artists will be on hand at Second Story Gallery’s opening night reception Friday, November 6, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. upstairs in the Camas Public Library.   

The exhibit will continue through Saturday, November 28 during the library's regular hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.  However, the library is closed on November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving.