Drawing a Crowd for the Robertson Art Gallery

Samo’s art program welcomes the fall season with a new and exciting exhibit in the Roberts Art Gallery. Premiered October 27, students from both Samo and John Adams Middle School (JAMS) celebrated the Day of the Dead with art pieces dedicated to the Latin-American holiday. The gallery featured paintings, drawings, graphic design posters, ceramic skulls and ofrendas. 

Some artworks displayed were inspired by the traditional Latin-American art format “Rotables,” in which the art is made on a square shaped canvas. For their pieces, the art students were instructed to share something they celebrated or they were thankful for. 

Many students shared paintings of family members, cultural traditions or an animal, including AP Art student Keira Yañez (’23), who shared a painting dedicated to her grandfather. 

“My grandpa used to be a carpenter, so I painted him a toolbox with flowers inside,” Yañez said. 

By painting in celebration of her grandfather and remembering her loved ones, Yañez speaks in celebration of the holiday. Another student, Mira Wali (’23), painted an image of her hand underneath a piece of cloth, symbolizing how she is part of all the generations that came before her, a commentary on family and connection. 

“The art exhibit brings people from different classes in the department together as we connect over our love of art,” Wali said.

Highlighting how many students felt inspired by the project, art students from JAMS shared their own perspective on this holiday with art pieces in remembrance of public figures, including Marilyn Monroe, David Bowie and Lil Peep.

The decision to include JAMS students fell on art teacher Tania Fischer, who organized the project.

“It’s a community event and I want to make sure everyone’s included. This year JAMS was interested in participating, so we decided to showcase some of their students' work,” Fischer said. 

Fischer and other members of the art staff at Samo understand how important it is to represent a variety of cultures in their projects and bring attention to traditions and customs that may be going unnoticed. The Day of the Dead exhibit is supposed to bring students together, something it exceeded in doing by giving students a space to create and display their work for anyone to see.