Starting May 21, WDHS will be hosting its bi-annual Art Show to showcase the students' talents and hard work. Over a two-day period, pieces will be displayed in the atrium of the Parkside Drive facility and the community is invited to visit and admire the pieces on the evenings of May 21-22. The theme for this year's event is Treasure Island.

The students have been hard at work all semester, assembling the creative and beautiful works.

"The art show will basically have all projects from Grades 9 to 12," said Amanda Wood, the media representative for the event.

This year, the Grade 9 students worked with tempera paints, clay, and plaster. As well, all students experimented with carving, cartooning, printmaking, and pottery. Each student was responsible for designing an ancient Egyptian pyramid tomb and recreating a Group of Seven art piece.

The Grade 10s learned about fine art. The class used a variety of tools including watercolor paints and scratchboards to complete their projects.

One of the main projects involved using clay to create gargoyles and goblets. Students also studied commercial art, applying their new-found knowledge by creating ads, stamps and CD covers while dabbling in fashion and jewelry design.

The Grade 11 art class learned the four basic styles of art: realism, abstraction, fantasy, and emotion. The students experimented with acrylic paints, Plexiglas, silk-screens, and etchings.

As a senior student, Wood explained that her class "focused on the interaction of meaning with medium. Medium being either paint or clay, and we had oils introduced to us."

The Grade 12 class has been working on projects to add to their portfolios for next year, as they move on to post-secondary educational facilities.

"The Grade 12 students will be looking at all of the semester two art work and picking the best pieces of each student to be displayed," said Wood.

Another part of the senior class curriculum is organizing the Art Show. Wood explained that everyone handles different assignments. The array of tasks involved in organizing the event included choosing a theme, creating flyers, making a sign to hang in the venue and informing the public.

"In the past a student's contribution would go towards mandatory volunteer work, but recently the contributions have been apart of their final mark," she said.