Salisbury Academy News Service

SALISBURY — What is art?

This complex and fascinating question is one that Salisbury Academy’s Upper School students are diving into in their art immersion class as they dissect aspects of visual, performance and musical arts. Their journey is enhanced by interactions and experiences curated by professional artisans.

At Waterworks Visual Arts Center, students followed Anne Scott Clement and Jackie Black into an exploration of the impact of technology on artistic movements. Delving deeply into their question of “What makes it art?” students were introduced to the art of curation and created their own artists’ chop mark.

“The Waterworks experience opened my eyes to the fact that art comes in surprisingly many shapes and forms,” 9th grader Addison Beckham said.

Next, students visited the N.C. Museum of Art, where they perused the galleries and became acquainted with surrealist art and the work of muralist Brandon Sadler.

“I really enjoyed the surrealism exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Art,” 9th grader Jacob Bardinas said. “There was a painting we all thought was especially interesting, as it told two sides of the very same story.”

Ninth-grader Levi Holman added, “My favorite part was definitely the murals by Brandon Sadler. It was cool to see the chop mark he used, and the pieces were displayed outside in nature.”

As their current immersion, students are in a study with Nicole Pequeno in her studio at Rail Walk in Salisbury as she teaches linocut and screenprinting art, equipping and supporting students as they make their own portrait creations.

“Printmaking has been especially interesting because of the way we select colors to make each of the layers,” 10th grader Ariel Mineran said.