“Out with a Bang!” AP Art Show packs a punch

The final AP Art Show under teacher Mark Wangberg defied all expectations with sixteen different high school artists exhibiting work in a culminating project displaying talent, dedication, and plain ol’ hard work.

A modest table and chairs greeted visitors to this year’s show, “Out with a Bang!” in the second-floor hallway outside the library on Friday, May 2, giving no hints of what lay inside the library-turned-gallery. An enormous and intoxicating buffet line alluded to the “refreshments” that were included with the insanely cheap admission of $3 for students and $5 for adults, as it was chock full of pasta dishes, sandwiches, desserts, appetizers, and drinks.

Some of this food was donated by local restaurants/catering companies, such as Brick and Brew, Sang Kee, and JPM Catering. The admission price funds went to the school’s charity club, Heifer International, which helps people in developing countries.

Inside the library, students from Wangberg’s AP Art class gave visitors to the reception food for thought through their pieces and specific concentrations (themes). Junior Haylee Cohen had focused on expressive portraiture in photography, but specifically on people “in their natural state” in urban environments smoking, waiting on trains, or just walking down the street. “I like when the people don’t necessarily know if there’s a picture being taken of them” Cohen said, which was evident from the magnitude and drama featured in the black and white prints to which head Principal Dr. Nesbitt compared to National Geographic.

Many of the students along with Cohen chose to focus on expressive portraiture as their concentration but delving into more specific themes that ranged from “A man in an Alien World” (Max Bowden), and “Supernatural Environments” (Rosie Hay), to “Human Interactions with Nature” (Julia Madgison) and “Eyes” (Grace Luber-Swety). One of Luber-Swety’s feature works, “VAG-EYE-NA” proved to be controversial, prompting discourse between the school’s administration and the work’s focus on a painted vagina with the center of it being an eye, on a bright purple background. Regardless of the subject matter, the work was very well done and provocative.

Other artists chose to focus on expressing their family and friends, as was Senior Katie Woods’ concentration. Woods’ use of contrasting colors and attention to detail are evidence of the artistic ability of the student’s features in the show. Along with her paintings/drawings, Woods had set up beautiful ceramic pieces for sale that she had made in classes in the high school and outside of school, which brought her considerable revenue at the end of the night.

The reception featured not only a diverse set of artists and concentrations, but also visitors who attended Wangberg’s final show. Marian Schroeder and Kathleen LeBlanc, two Havertown residents and artists, don’t even have any children who attend school in the district anymore. “We don’t always get here” Schroeder said, seated in the hallway outside the show, “but when we do, we are always floored by the level of talent.” High School P.E. teacher Lisa Yacovelli was also in attendance, as she wanted to support the kids who make our art program great. “I originally got into art in high school as well” Yacovelli said, which is why she also brings her classes up to see the show during school hours. Art teacher Samara Talkin was also in attendance, supporting many of the kids that she had taught “only a year ago.”

As the show came to close, Teacher and “director of insanity” Mark Wangberg gathered the huge crowd for final remarks on the show and his career at the high school. Wangberg started this tradition nearly 12 years ago in 2002, with his final show being an “exceptional situation” as this was the most students he has ever had in a show.

In his emotional speech, Wangberg thanked the artists, parents, and his wife, Connie Grauds, for all of the support and help that made this show possible. He especially thanked his students for accepting his leadership and teaching to which “go beyond the making of mere pretty pictures” and focus on “self-expression and problem-solving.”

Wangberg will be leaving his teaching post here at Haverford to embark on a new journey and chapter in his life, by co-running The Living Shaman Museum, in San Francisco, California with Grouds, who is a shamana (female shaman). Grouds spent 20 years in the jungles of Peru, where she became involved with shamanism, which is “being a priest, psychologist, physician, and or a healer in a community.”

The museum works to house shamans from around the world, educate people about shamanism, exhibit works dealing with the subject and much more.

This year’s AP art show marked the end of an era in the Art Department here at the High School, as Mr. Wangberg went “Out with a Bang!” in leading his students over a year-long voyage in which they learned more about themselves, each other, and how to communicate their ideas through their artwork.

Many at the show hope to see Wangberg’s tradition continue under the teacher who will replace him in the fall of the 2015-2016 school year.