GREEN RIVER — From April 30 through May 2, the Green River High School (GRHS) art students were supposed attend the Wyoming State Art Symposium in Casper, however, instead they were at home due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
The State Art Symposium provides an opportunity for art students across the state to not only showcase their artwork from the year, but also to be awarded, receive a letter in art, and receive scholarships.
Shane Steiss, GRHS art teacher, said it was “a sad thing” to have the State Art Symposium canceled, especially for the senior class.
“As with every year, I had a group of students, especially seniors, who were excited to show their work,” he said.
Beyond showing their work, Steiss said special awards are handed out at the state show for pieces.
“Along with the art show in Casper, they also give away scholarships and hand out special awards for pieces that will be recognized at the state level and national level called the Congressional Art Awards,” Steiss said.
However, Steiss said there is an effort underway to have the scholarship process online, as well as a way for students to submit their pieces to an online congressional art show where they may be selected to receive awards.
“In a way, there is still a small portion of the symposium occurring even in these weird times,” Steiss said.
Devastated Over Missed Experiences
Senior Hailee Mikesell is a second-year pottery student at GRHS. She prefers to use white clay and loves the technique of throwing on the pottery wheel.
Despite not attending herself last year, she did send a few of her pieces to the State Art Symposium and received two blue ribbons. Since she did not attend last year, she was looking forward to experiencing the symposium this year and showcasing her work.
“I was so devastated when I found out that state art would be canceled because I have improved a lot this year, and I was excited to show off some of my best work,” Mikesell said.
Some of Mikesell’s pottery pieces. 
Not only is state art special because of the art show, but it gives the students a chance to hang out with friends and create lasting memories. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Mikesell did not get to experience this.
“I was also excited to go on a trip with a few of my friends because I didn’t go last year, so I figured that senior year would be the best year to go,” she said.
Mikesell finds online schooling to be quite difficult as she said she focuses better in a school environment. It’s also hard for her to come to terms with her senior year being completely different than she had imagined it to be.
“It’s pretty disappointing when the year I’ve been excited for my whole life didn’t go the way I would have hoped,” Mikesell said.
However, she said she has a little help from her loved ones who are doing their best to make her year special.
“Even with social distancing, I have a lot of family and friends that are helping me enjoy it and make the most of it,” Mikesell said.
A few of Mikesell’s pieces. 
Mikesell will attend Western Wyoming Community College in the fall to study dental hygiene, and she hopes to make pottery in her free time.
She plans to submit pieces for congressional awards as well as apply for a state art scholarship.
An Emotional Senior Year
Aurora Wiekhorst is another senior art student who was looking forward to the State Art Symposium. She works with both 2D and 3D art forms, however, 2D is where her heart is. She works mostly with watercolors, but has done some oil painting as well.
“My best work has to be my paintings, but I have found a new love for pottery through my second time in Advanced 3D with Mr. Steiss,” Wiekhorst said.
Wiekhorst went to state art last year as a junior and received a blue ribbon on some of her pottery pieces. She had a lot of fun at state art last year, and is disheartened by not being able to experience it again.
“I am so upset it had to be canceled,” she said. “I was looking forward to going this year.”
However, state art is just one of the many experiences that have been stripped away from Wiekhorst, as like every senior her final year of high school has been flipped upside down.
“With the rest of my senior year being canceled, I am going through so many emotions,” Wiekhorst said. “I feel about 10 different emotions every day.”
A few of Wiekhorst’s watercolor paintings. 
Choosing to look on the positive side of things, Wiekhorst said she appreciates all the hard work her teachers are putting in to ensure she gets her education.
“It may be different having school online, but my teachers are working so hard to make it easier on us. I am so thankful to have the teachers that I do, they are the best,” she said. “I just want to give a huge shout out to all my teachers and all of the teachers at GRHS. They are amazing and working so so hard for all of their students.”
Wiekhorst will be attending Sheridan College in the fall to study dental hygiene.
Some of Wiekhorst’s pottery pieces. 
Art Classes in the Virtual Setting
Whereas some classes transitioned smoothly to the online classroom, art classes are a bit more complicated in a virtual setting. However, Steiss believes the courses are going “relatively smooth.”
“It’s hard to do much new instruction and students are struggling to balance all these new courses and ways of learning,” Steiss said.
Given that 3D classes can’t work with clay from home, the art classes have shifted to drawing and painting based. Students involved in digital art classes such as graphics and photography are able to complete their work quite easily from home.
“It is interesting seeing how each student is taking this artistic challenge in different directions,” Steiss said.
Wiekhorst said she actually quite likes the online setting, as she can complete her regular curriculum classes in about two hours every day, leaving her much more time to dedicate to her art work than a typical school day.
However, Mikesell, who is a 3D artist, prefers the classroom.
“Before all of this, I had my advanced 3D art class and my independent study at the end of the day and I would look forward to those classes all day long,” Mikesell said.
More of Mikesell’s pottery pieces. 
Missing the Interactions Between Student and Teacher
Both students said they miss the classroom as they miss their interactions with Steiss.
“Pottery has become one of my passions, and I have the best pottery teacher I could ask for. He is the reason why I love making pottery so much,” Mikesell said of Steiss. “His classroom is such a fun and exciting environment, he always finds new ways to make our class fun.”
Wiekhorst also said she misses the environment of Steiss’ classroom. Despite having more time at home to work on art, she said she does “miss Mr. Steiss a ton.”
“I got to spend two class periods with him every day. Sometimes three,” she said.
A watercolor paining done by Wiekhorst. 
One of Wiekhorst’s pots.
Steiss also said the online setting does not allow for critique of work and the collaborative interactions between himself and the students.
“The part that is missing is the back and forth between the artist and teacher. There is not a good way to critique or analyze work in the process,” Steiss said. “In short, I am missing these interactions and I know the students are too.”
