![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
AP Studio Art exhibition showcases artworks from students’ concentration portfolios
Madison Tomihiro (12) hangs up one of her pieces that she drew for her portfolio. The exhibition featured art works from a total of 25 students taking the AP course.
March 3, 2016
Students in the AP Studio Art class held an exhibition in the Nichols Atrium on Wednesday during long lunch.
Students, faculty and parents were allowed to come observe the artworks done by the 25 students who are taking the AP course, the greatest number of students yet.
The students displayed a selection of works that were part of their concentration portfolios, which were all based on a single idea that they were exploring. They then created a series of artworks that investigated that certain idea.
This reception serves as a halfway mark for the students in their concentration portfolios and it helps them get critique from the larger community and to see what’s working and what’s not.
Joshua Martinez, the photography teacher and the instructor for the 2D digital group, commented on how this exhibit benefits the AP students and how it serves as a good opportunity for them to learn and come up with new ideas.
“I think it’s exciting for the students to do the AP show because they’re just starting to figure out what their concentrations are going to be and this is the first time for them to be able to show it off and to get feedback from the larger community about it so everybody is a little nervous and a little excited and just sort of waiting to see how it turns out,” he said. “They’ve all been working so hard, it’s going to be really exciting to see it.”
All of the works were composed using a variety of different mediums, which include painting and drawing, photography and graphic design, as well as sculpture.
The required number of pieces differed for each class; for the 2D and drawing portfolios, students needed to complete a total of 12 works, while for 3D portfolios, a total of eight works were necessary.
Doreene Kang (12), who is in 2D wet media, expressed her opinions about the art show and how she enjoyed the end product of her work compared to the process.
“It’s pretty fulfilling because working on 12 pieces over the course of the year that are connected, it’s pretty hard because of all the deadlines, and eventually, you start running out of ideas,” she said. “Just letting the rest of the school see what you’ve been working on and [to] be able to see everything together compiled in an art show is nice as an artist.”
When the exhibit was first held in 2005, the reception took place in Shah, but it was later moved to the Nichols Atrium after the construction of the building, which helped display the artworks better and served as a more spacious community space for students and faculty to gather in.
Another one of the AP Studio Art instructors, Pilar Aguero-Esparza, explained her perspective of the art exhibit and how for some students, it serves as a motivational source to get their work done.
“For me, I really see it as a celebration because it’s a lot of work, it’s very personal; it’s kind of scary for some students; it’s showing and sharing something that can be very personal to a student; it can be a little bit intimidating, but I find it to be very exciting; I find it to be celebratory,” she said. “I think another thing is that having the deadline of an exhibit, [for] some students, it really inspires them and gets them fired up to do more work, to commit to it.”
For many of the students, time was an issue in the whole process of preparing for the exhibition. Kevina Xiao (12), who is part of the 2D design class taught by Martinez, discussed some of the hardships she faced while assembling her works.
“My class started late so we definitely had that time crunch because it was pretty hard to turn out one concentration piece per week and we’re not even halfway through so I predict that’s going to be pretty hard in the future,” she said. “Another thing is that we’re still kind of finding what we want to say overall in our portfolio so we’re still experimenting and that’s also kind of hard for the development of our pieces.”
The end of the year exhibit for all students taking an art course will take place on April 27.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 3, 2016.
