Students in the Sycamore High School Advanced Placement Arts Class produced the beautiful artwork that has graced the annual City Calendar since 2003. Art teacher, Elise Williams, will give us an inside look at the rewarding process the students go through to create the art that we all enjoy. Elise is a teacher in the Visual Arts Education department at Sycamore High School and is a member of the City of Montgomery Arts Commission.
Students in the Sycamore High School Advanced Placement Arts Class produced the beautiful artwork that has graced the annual City Calendar since 2003. Art teacher, Elise Williams, will give us an inside look at the rewarding process the students go through to create the art that we all enjoy. Elise is a teacher in the Visual Arts Education department at Sycamore High School and is a member of the City of Montgomery Arts Commission.
Welcome to Montgomery Insider. I'm Matthew van der Horst and I'm here with our co-host, Amie Frederick, and our special guest, Elise Williams. Welcome, Elise.
Elise Williams:Thank you.
Amy Frederick:At least you're the sycamore art teacher. And one thing that comes out every year in our mailbox is the annual calendar. The students help with the artwork, and at one time, you were one of those students that produced the art. Why don't you tell us about that first?
Elise Williams:Sure. I went through the art program, moved here when I was ten, and went through all the art classes, and apparently, my senior year was the first year we produced the calendar. It was a project at the end of the year, after all, senior requirements were over, and our teacher assigned it and I was the first student to produce the calendar. One of the first group of students, Yes.
Amy Frederick:So you were a student and now you're the teacher? Yes. Is that a program in school that produces that art class or those art or how does that work? Is it a contest at school?
Elise Williams:We have several AP art classes at the high school, and my AP drawing class historically has produced the calendars since we started the relationship started with Montgomery in 2002. And it's that class in particular because we produce work with all different mediums, drawing, painting, scratch, board, digital art, the kids do a variety of different works, so now I get to incorporate it into our program, those AP seniors, the seniors that produce the work.
Amy Frederick:So how long does it take to produce this? Is this all?
Elise Williams:Year? Yeah. So so, when I did it and for several years, the work was produced as the last project for seniors, but their year is so jam-packed and by the time they get to April and May, they're really done. Senioritis, it is very real. So it's been such a struggle. I mean, I've been teaching at the high school for ten years now. This is my third year, I believe, fourth, third or fourth year teaching the AP class and taking over the project. They usually do it at the end of the school year, but I have been wise enough to start incorporating in as soon as possible. Starting in October, I produce I present the work, we look over the pictures, we look over the theme, and I get them started early. So we have sketches that are due by the end of December and then they have time to work on it through the second semester so that it's finished to the best of their ability and turned it in Matted, and I have all the information from them before they leave for the Graduate and move on. But that's made it a lot easier to get quality work that they can spend time on. So in full probably only takes about two full weeks, but we spread it out.
Matthew Vanderhorst:One of the things that we do for the city is we gather photos and things like that and we give them to you. So how did the students choose which photo they want to use or do they want to paint?
Elise Williams:Yeah. So I know the city of Montgomery and the community really expects professional work at this point because we've we've put out such high quality calendars for several years. So this has to be the best work that the kids have done, the best of their ability, which they're very at first insecure about. So I know what they need to produce the work. So it's not just a free for all. I don't just give them whatever. So I usually take some time to edit the photos. I kind of turn them sometimes, make them landscape. I put grids on them, I crop them a little bit differently, and I present them to them so they can see all the pictures and then they can choose what they're most comfortable doing. And so they get assigned a year. In the last couple of years, we've only had enough students to produce every month plus a cover. So in years past before COVID, we had lots of students, lots more. I mean, numbers have been changing and shifting, but we all the students would do the work and then we could choose pieces, the art teachers, what would go into the calendar or the city one. But now all the students have to do it and they all have to do it to the best of their ability because that's what goes into the calendar. So I present it to them. They choose, but I often assist through the work and encourage and help them make it realistic with their stylized, you know, handwriting that they have. So there's a lot of teamwork that goes into it. They ultimately get to choose what they're doing.
Matthew Vanderhorst:And what mediums do they usually use?
Elise Williams:There's a mix. So we have colored pencil, acrylic paintings, oil paintings. We have several digital pieces, not very few black and white. But this year for 2024, we're working on that. We will have a black and white photo. I know. So usually lots of color. They, like I said, they still have their handwriting, their stylization in the work, but I do encourage them to be as realistic as possible with space, with form, with color, to give it their own little twist to.
Amy Frederick:So in 2023, the calendar that's coming out right now, the theme is I Love Montgomery. And we had a variety of pictures which kind of that people had sent to us. We had different parks. Some had dogs in it and families in them. What would you say was your students favorite ones to paint?
Elise Williams:Yeah, they love I mean, people are hard. People are always hard. So unless the student is particularly fond of a figural piece, those are the ones that are not necessarily picked first. But the dogs were awesome. The parks, the landscapes were favorites for this, for that calendar. And it's a little bit for our senior year in AP. Drawing is very conceptual because their whole class is geared towards the AP test, and the AP test is all about them discovering and inquiring and following a question and creating work that is completely just one step after the other investigating. And so they're in a mindset that's very abstract and conceptual. So working on the Montgomery piece is kind of going back to their pre AP days where they were practicing skills and techniques. And so it's a little bit of a shift for them, but it's really good because it really brings out how talented they are, how skilled they are, how much they've learned over all the years with all the teachers that they've had know. So it's kind of it's fun for them regardless. But the dogs and in the landscapes, you know, and sometimes the little kids, the pictures of the little small children are really fun for them, too.
Amy Frederick:They did a beautiful job on this calendar. We're very proud and we hope that people enjoy it as much as we have. The 2023 looks just beautiful. What do you think is probably I know you mentioned faces, but what else is challenging?
Elise Williams:So like I said before, senior year is a hard one. It's a lot, especially this time of the year in the fall, you know, the college applications and the recommendations and the portfolios. I mean, a lot of my students go to art school, so they're swamped right now. And then we have some time to really focus on the AP test after December, then after that. So come April, our big district art show is in February and February, March, beginning of March. So they're just done usually by the end of the year. They just they don't want to put a lot of work. So I would say the hardest part for me and for them really is just getting it finished to the high quality that I know they're capable of doing because they just don't want to work in theater anymore. But, you know, I don't blame them. They've been working so hard all year, but just trying to get it out of them at the end of the school year because it is it's really a lot of their first commission work. I mean, it's a big deal. It's a big relationship, it's a big community, and it's very exciting. And but at that point, they just can't see any of that. So it's really hard for them to just wrap it up and to get it in, which is why I started sooner and sooner while they still have the energy to put into it. But I mean, I think that's the hardest part and to believe in themselves, to get it out to the highest quality that I know they're capable of doing. Because a lot of the time they just again, they want to get it done by that point. And I have to kind of battle them to show their true colors through the work.
Amy Frederick:So it's spoken like a true teacher. Yeah. So what would you say your most proud of of your students?
Elise Williams:This relationship with the city is? I mean, I have a lot of heart in it because I did it. I actually did it two years. So my senior year we started it. I didn't know that my teacher, the relationship started my senior year. I did a painting of Pipkins which still hangs in the store and then my the following year. So I was a freshman in college. They didn't have enough pieces to fill the calendar, so they asked me to come back as a visiting artist. So then I did another piece of Pumpkins, a different season. So there are two paintings of Pipkins that hang in their store that were the first in the calendar. But to have continued it and to keep it to the highest quality that it is, I feel like I'm most part of that. Just being a part of the community and the connection with the kids and it's so long-lasting. For years I sold copies of paintings of the Hipkins pieces. And, you know, these seniors are so consumed by what's next. You know, they're seniors. They're just looking for the trying to get out of there to go into college, you know, So they're not really looking far into the future. But the calendar is really such a long-lasting, future-focused experience because people see their paintings. I mean, people keep those calendars. The artwork is beautiful and their names are in them. And I'm sure they get contacted. And, you know, we have some fun projects coming up with trying to get the pieces out in the public more often. The actual artwork maybe. Community members see it and want to buy it. So that's there, some stuff coming with that, but that'll be really fun. So I just I'm proud of just the relationship and what it does for the kids moving forward. They can't quite capture it right now.
Matthew Vanderhorst:You brought up something new that we're doing this year is that we're going to be displaying the originals at the Universal Church turn holiday in the village and people will be able to purchase them. The students or the artists do get a stipend from the city, but this is another way to get recognition and for them to be even more proud of what they're doing. We get family members coming in all the time. Thy want extra copies. And so, you know, they're proud of them and know they hold on to those. And, you know, they last forever. So their name is in there. They're sort of demoralized. I'm excited to see what that's going to happen this year to church.
Elise Williams:Yeah. They'll be tags on the work. If the work isn't for sale, they'll be tags on the work for the. The parents of the artist because they'll be away. But contacting the parents to sell prints of the work or sell the work or whatever, and all the families are notified of that. So that's very exciting.
Matthew Vanderhorst:When is holiday in the village?
Amy Frederick:Holiday in the village is December 3rd from 5 to 7:30. p.m. and we'll have that art set up in the church. It's I already have my favorite, which I won't say what it is, but come on down and take a look at it. I'm sure you'll have your favorite as well.
Matthew Vanderhorst:This calendar has probably has some of the best quality that we've seen. I mean, they're all good. But there are some here that just stand out.
Elise Williams:I have to say on that note, I mean, I can't not give credit to the art program at the high school. And it's not just me. I mean, years and years of teachers, these kids, the culture that the program has created at Sycamore Schools from all years has created these artists. You know, I mean, I had talent to. I mean, obviously, I am an art teacher. I went through the art program, but I didn't recognize my talent. You know, my art teachers are what brought that out of me. And I get the kids senior year and they produce this work because the art teachers have developed these skills in them and pointed them in the right direction. So I just have to I can't leave without saying that, you know, it's really a testimony to all the years of their education at Sycamore.
Amy Frederick:I agree that's so important. I mean, the impact teachers have on students, you know, and the arts, that's why some kids go to school just because they want to be part of the arts. Well, we're excited to have the calendar 2023, so make sure that you check your mailbox and come see us at holiday in the village again.
That's Saturday, December 3rd from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Matthew Vanderhorst:Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please.
Elise Williams:Thank you.