Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Artworks by two Memorial High School art students were selected for display as part of the recent Texas Art Education Association (TAEA) exhibit during the joint fall meeting of major state education groups.

Both the conference and student art exhibit for the Texas Association of School

(TASA) and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) were held remotely last month.

SBISD works selected for exhibition included Dreamcatcher, a mixed media work by senior Claire Kim, and a digital photograph titled El Trabajador by Greer Giles, who is also a Memorial High senior.

The TAEA exhibit was displayed remotely as an art advocacy initiative. It included works created by students across the state in grades Pre-K through 12^th grade.

Memorial’s Claire Kim states that she created Dreamcatcher to work with media across multiple areas.

“I chose colored pencil for the details of the figure and then painted with coffee and used pen and ink in the background,” she said.

“Dreamcatcher is about how we view others by their appearance – which is why the man is realistically drawn – and know nothing about their pasts, their hopes and their dreams,” she adds. “That is why I created the background with different types of details behind the figure.”

“Each person’s life is unique and each person has dreams . . . [the depicted figure] is reaching out to touch his dreams,” she also said.

Kim is president of the Memorial High School Art Club and she is a member of the National Art Honor Society.

“I was so proud of Claire for creating such a unique and interesting work of art,” instructor Elisa Barry said. “She is a dedicated and creative student ... and will make a positive impact in our society.”

The deeply felt, close-up digital photograph taken by Greer Giles was part of one series exploring how human hands tell us all a story about individual lives and, by extension, about American society.

Giles describes his joy at learning that his photograph was chosen for conference display.

“I was so excited!” he exclaimed. “Being [a virtual student], it was a nice surprise when Ms. Carney announced it on Zoom that day in class!”

Elizabeth Carney teaches photography at Memorial High.