Pears hold a fascination for the students in Marsha HogueÕs class.
ÒWe talked about them and grouped them in different ways,Ó the Lake Highlands High
School art teacher says.
The students saw that the pears, part of a still life that Hogue put together, could convey such human qualities as inclusiveness and loneliness. Now, they are attempting to demonstrate their ideas visually, using the pears as metaphors for life.
Such abstract work is important to this group of talented high school artists. The juniors and seniors hope to earn college credit through HogueÕs Advanced Placement art class, and learning to think like that is critical to that effort.
ÒWe want them to be designers of space rather than fillers of space,Ó says the teacher, and the results of her work have been impressive. Over the course of the academic year, students complete 40 pieces of work and submit slides to be evaluated by the College Board. Those who receive scores of three or above on a five-point scale may earn college credit.
Nationwide, 40 percent of the students who attempt to earn advanced placement credit in art fail. Last year, HogueÕs failure rate was under 14 percent. In previous years, when the national failure rate was set at 30 percent, all of HogueÕs students passed.
The Lake Highlands program benefits from a grant by the OÕDonnell Foundation, which supports Advanced Placement art programs in 12 Dallas-area high schools. The foundation provides additional training for art teachers, a number of financial incentives for teachers, students, and schools, and special programs that allow students to meet and work with professionals in the art world.
Each fall, for example, the students participate in the programÕs Super Saturday and spend a day immersed in the collections at the Dallas Museum of Art. They meet with prominent artists who discuss not only their own work but also the practical parts of the art world.
They sketch and receive critiques from both artists and teachers. And they have their work
displayed in the museumÕs FINA Gallery, where this year, it will remain through April 11.
ItÕs an experience few will forget.
ÒI never thought IÕd do that,Ó says Victor Garza, who calls Super Saturday Òawesome.Ó
In fact, the opportunity to participate in a program like HogueÕs was beyond GarzaÕs imagination only a few years ago. At his school in Mexico, student artists were popular, and Garza aimed to be like them. But at Lake Highlands, the aspiring architect receives more than encouragement. He learns techniques that allow him to capture his ideas in various media.
