![“[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)
Artstravaganza displays Scholastic Art and Writing pieces in Nichols Atrium
Students discuss art pieces displayed in Nichols Atrium. The works of this year’s AP Studio Art students were featured in an exhibit up earlier this year.
March 29, 2018
Artstravaganza, the upper school’s annual art and writing exhibition, will be on display in Nichols Atrium starting April 9. The gallery will include the works of this year’s Scholastic Art and Writing Awards winners as well as the works of any Harker student currently taking art classes.
“What I like about Artstravaganza is that it’s really a community celebration of all the visual arts that have happened in the year, so it could be students who are freshmen who have just taken the Study of Visual Arts class or students who have done advanced sculpting or ceramics,” visual arts teacher Pilar Aguero-Esparza said.
Katrina Liou (11), a Scholastic Art Awards winner who has had her work exhibited in Artstravaganza for the past two years, shared her personal thoughts on the event.
“I think [Artstravaganza] is a great way to display students’ art. It’s a one big event that includes not just AP [Art] students but also the drawing, the graphic arts, the sculpture students, and it’s great,” she said. “It exposes our community to the school’s visual arts programs.”
Although the art building does not have its own space for an exhibition, hosting Artstravaganza in Nichols, the science building, has its benefits for both teachers and students.
“We always get comments from teachers in Nichols, like ‘It’s nice to have the art and see the colors!'” Aguero-Esparza said. “They appreciate being able to host us, and we really appreciate it because we don’t have a gallery. Everybody goes into that building because they have to have a science class at some point, so we like that too because it’s high traffic, so a lot of people are getting exposed to what students are doing in the art classes.”
Like the past two years, Jazz Band is planning to perform at Artstravaganza to entertain the viewers of the exhibition in Nichols. The exhibition will stay up in the center of Nichols Atrium until the end of the first week back from spring break. After that, all of the art will be moved to the walls of the space to stay up for another month.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 29, 2019.
