On November 6 Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders (PAAL) hosted its second annual art showcase event featuring artists from Poly and PAAL. The stage never failed to have a presence, as spoken word artists, rappers, singers and dancers all came together to ensure entertainment was always provided.
While performing artists showcased their talents outside on the stage, visual artists’ work was displayed inside the gallery. Artists were given total creative liberty with their work, and a diversity of styles and subjects were present throughout the gallery room. Among the types of art displayed were paintings, drawings and sculptures. Topics present in the art often included Poly, society, and mental health, among others.
Attendees were not only able to immerse themselves among the art created by others, but also to take a chance and create art of their own. With stations like “Paint a Tree Ring” or “Paint a Canvas”, adults and children alike were provided the tools such as acrylic paint and brushes to create their own masterpieces.
One of the students behind organizing this event was senior Jessica Cubias, student council co-president at PAAL. Cubias said it was her favorite event of the year as it allowed students to connect to the paintings, the artists, and the music.
“Painting brings out what people are afraid to let out,” said Cubias.
The night’s line up consisted of performing artists such as Aermoongi, Mac, Money Traxx, KDI, T-Lost and many more.
“Not many schools give student artists a chance to present their art,” said Mac Harris, spoken word artist and PAAL alumni. “Art is everywhere and this event becomes an outlet which elevates that.”
“Lost in Art” was an event student council voted to keep and lead artist Ivan Rojas and PAAL seniors, as a class, collaborated together to ensure the night was a success.
Art can help cope and manage emotional pain, one of the reasons Activities Specialists and Restorative Justice course teacher Marisol Ibañez-Tintorer feels this event is important.
“It’s about giving everyone a voice,” she said, “everyone’s voice matters.”
PAAL hosted events are open to all Poly students and it is important for Poly to support its sister campus.
“We are a part of Poly and they’re a part of us,” said Ibañez-Tintorer.
Tag: Art
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PAAL Hosts “Lost in Art”
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Poly Alumni Success Story
Majoring in the arts can be a controversial risk for those applying to college because the debate still stands of whether it is a reliable source of income.
Helena Hsieh has had her successes in the art industry around the country, beginning with her experiences at Poly. She is a former Poly graduate who attended UCLA majoring in English. She continued to pursue her artistic career in graphic design and went to school at the San Francisco Art Institute. Like many, Hsieh used art as an outlet for her emotions that soon developed into a passion when she took art classes as a freshman at Poly.
When initially applying for colleges, she was unsure of what she truly wanted to do as a career, in her mind art was still a risk because of financial reasons. Her parents were worried that she would not prosper and also remained skeptical that she didn’t choose a secure career in a different industry. Despite possibly disappointing her parents, Hsieh decided to take that risk of becoming an artist. She surpassed the struggling artist stereotype and consistently worked other jobs to make sure she had a stable income. She made connections as she moved farther away from Long Beach and felt like she made the right decision to follow her passion.
Even after traveling the world, Hsieh realized that Long Beach will always be her home and the place her career took off. Her words of wisdom for those considering art as a career is to always “be passionate.” Do not believe that “what you create has to be mainstream in order to succeed” because then your work would no longer be meaningful to you. Even if times might might be hard financially, “it isn’t always about the money” and the real reward is doing what you love everyday.
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60th Annual Grammy Recap!
To those who produce music, it is a dream to be nominated for a Grammy. 2017 consisted of amazing new music from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Childish Gambino, Lorde and many more. On January 28th, the 60th Annual Grammys were held at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. The show wrestled with a range of social and political topics including immigration, racial injustice, and the #MeToo movement by many influencers of our time.
Many remarkable moments happened throughout the show. Kendrick Lamar opened the show with U2 with his song “XXX,” as he raps about poverty and revenge. A #MeToo moment was brought into the spotlight by Kesha and many fellow female artists that attended that night standing behind her in this overwhelming, powerful, emotional movement. For those who aren’t aware, the #MeToo movement brings widespread awareness and prevalence to sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. The women in white performed “Praying,” a ballad off of her first studio album, “Rainbow.” Performances from Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Rihanna, SZA, and Sam Smith took the stage by storm, with hit singles released last year.
The nominations this year among the musicians, rappers were going head to head in each of the category. For Bruno Mars, it was the highlight of his career thus far. An upbeat master of singalong bops, which also makes you want to groove with the move. Mr. Mars won all six of the awards he was nominated for, including the top prizes of: album, record, and song of the year. The provocative and critically admired rapper from Compton, CA, Kendrick Lamar, was the next most awarded artist whose five wins included awards from the rap categories. For those who didn’t go home with a Grammy in hand, it was an honor to be nominated, which clearly indicates how worthy and impactful their music was and still is in many lives.
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A “Broad” Understanding of Art
Founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, Los Angeles is home to the renowned art museum named The Broad. The iconic museum features exhibits from all corners of the Earth. The most current being Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirrors. A few very lucky Poly students and teachers have been able to visit this collection. The Broad is known for over 2,000 pieces of contemporary and postwar art pieces. Since opening in September 2015, The Broad has welcomed more than 1.6 million visitors.
Poly’s only Art History teacher, Christine Tram, said The Broad is one of her favorite places to go in her free time.
Christine Tram
The photo above features one of Kusama’s Infinity Rooms titled Dot Obsession. This work was inspired by the Kusama’s visual transformation from Love to Polka Dots.The Broad museum is also home to one of today’s most famous contemporary artists: Jeff Koons. He is most well known for his Balloon Dog piece and his Rabbit artwork which is now on display at the Los Angeles museum.
At this particular museum, contemporary and pop art styles are extremely popular. Many are familiar with the artist Barbara Krueger who addresses media and politics in their native tongue: tabloid, sensational, authoritative, and direct.
The Broad is worth spending a day in LA with your closest art-loving pals.
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Camp Flog Gnaw Recap
The iconic music festival, Camp Flog Gnaw, drew in people from all across the globe to join Tyler, The Creator. They celebrated their 6th annual music festival at the Exposition Park in Los Angeles. Myself and a few other lucky Jackrabbits had the honor of attending this world renowned festival. Many look forward to this year’s event, and not only for the astounding live performances, but also its carnival aspect that features all sorts of fun games and prizes.
The various performances catered to many different genres including Lana Del Rey, Kid Cudi, and many more. The boy band Brockhampton brought to life the main stage performing one of his many great hits, “Queer,” off their latest album SATURATION. Saturday night ended with Lana Del Rey. Many of the audience’s inner 2012 fangirl spirit came screaming out, singing along to all her oldies from the Born To Die album.
Go big or go home, am I right? That’s how Sunday felt. The energy everyone brought to the carnival radiated through the festival from the fashion and the people, to the weather and the food. Some people were dressed head to toe in all colors of the rainbow and some people were dressed in hardly nothing. Each person had their own voice that projected itself either through the exotic food they were eating or the vibrant outfits they were wearing.
It was gloomy, sunny, and cold, but all I could think of was that it beat walking around in 100 degrees and dwelling in my own sweat.
Another exciting part of the festival was when Playboi Carti’s set had multiple mosh pits, people climbing trees, and all sorts of people jumpin’ & bumpin’.
Throughout the weekend, there were several special guests that made an appearance: YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Mac DeMarco, ASAP Mob, G-Eazy, etc.
But the set everyone truly looked forward to was ASAP Rocky’s. Known for his amazing performances, all anyone had to say was, it was wild, you just had to be there. 11/10 recommend, it is definitely worth your time and money. Until next year, Camp Flog Gnaw, thank you Tyler!
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Student Art Show
The JCC Art Show ended on Friday, March 3. The art show went on for four weeks and took place at the Jewish Community Center. The exhibit included 97 different works of art from 20 different schools. Ten middle schools and ten high schools participated in the event. The categories consisted of the following; high school art, high school digital art, and middle school art.
Six Poly students submitted their work into the show, five of whom won an award or prize. Senior April Ray won third place in high school art. Ray stated, “My piece was a water piece called ‘Still Life’ and it took months to put together.”
For the same category, Emma Hastie, Enrique Martinez, and Andreana Santos-How won honorable mentions. Elizabeth Sandoval won first place for high school digital art. This category was new as of this year, created for all the digital/photography submissions received.
There is another upcoming art show for the students who didn’t get a chance to submit work into the JCC art show. The theme will be the role of gender in today’s society.
Artists are asked specific questions to consider in preparation: What is the relationship between gender and society? How does culture shape one’s gender identity? What does it mean in a given culture to be masculine or feminine? How is society’s view of gender changing? Thoughts can be represented through a drawing, painting, photograph, collage, or a three dimensional sculpture.
Everyone’s artwork will be judged by the Long Beach Art Museum in conjunction with the Millikan High School Museum Studies Exhibitions Department. The art will be judged based on the its visual depiction of theme, artistic merit, and meeting all of the stated requirements. Students interested have the choice of digital media, drawing, watercolor, acrylic, photograph, oil painting, ceramic, print, or collage.
Two dimensional work should be at least 8”×10” but no larger than 16”×20”. Three dimensional work should be no larger than 16”×16”×20”. Art works can’t depict obscenities or weapons. Any Poly student is allowed to enter their piece, the deadline is still to be announced.
