Golden Apple: Bemidji’s Watermark Art Center Opens Annual High School Invitational

The Watermark Art Center in Bemidji holds a special High School Invitational exhibit every year that features the artwork of students from local high schools. The event draws in dozens of family and community members.

“It’s probably our most well-attended event,” said Jill Neumann, Watermark Art Center’s Art Education Program Director. “A lot of people want to come out and see their kids’ work. It’s just to kind of highlight what they’ve done and it gives them a chance to have art in a real gallery setting.”

Having their work displayed in an actual art studio instead of a school hallway can make quite a difference for the students.

“It feels pretty cool,” said Annabel, a 10th grader at Bemidji High School. “It’s cool to have an opportunity like this in Bemidji here. It feels a lot more art-centric, like, when you just have it at school, it’s kind of just passing it in the hallway. But here it’s kind of just, the point of it, and I feel like that makes a difference.”

Kelsey Engel, Cass Lake-Bena High School Visual Art Instructor, agreed with that sentiment. “It’s so fun to see it up in this sort of space versus, like, even when we would create displays in the school environment, to get it out of the school in a new location, and I feel like the kids make it feel really special when it’s in a place like the Watermark Art Center.”

A wide variety of art styles and media are on display for the event, including sculpture, ceramics, paintings, and Indigenous artwork.

“It was mostly a rag-tag at first, and then I kind of got an idea about fandom misogyny, and then it just came together from there,” said Yesui, a Bemidji High School 10th grader, of her work.

“I like to keep my stuff a little bit ambiguous,” said Annabel about “Liar Liar,” her mixed media piece that includes a pair of pants on fire. “I don’t want to, like, sound pretentious, and I don’t usually have a direct inspiration, but I just kind of thought it would be funny.”

Visitors of the High School Invitational will even get to vote for their favorite piece. Whoever can gather the most votes will win what the Watermark Art Center calls the People’s Choice award.

“Man, it’s going to be impossible to vote,” said Gabriel Nordby, a Social Studies teacher at Bemidji High School. “You’re supposed to get one vote, and I can’t find one that I don’t want to vote for.”

But if you ask the art teachers from the schools involved in this year’s exhibit, they will tell you it’s not about winning any award—it’s about enjoying the process.

“Not every student is going to come out being an artist, like in a career or trade, but if they can at least find some enjoyment in what they’re making and make it connect to themselves and learn something new in the process, I’m happy with that,” explained Engel.

“There are so many talented kids here at Bemidji High School, at the other schools in the area. And, wow. I mean, it’s phenomenal,” Nordby added. “It blows my mind, and and if you’re going to do art, keep doing this because this stuff is awesome.”

You can still vote on your favorite artwork from students of local high schools until April 23rd. Voting can only be done in-person at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji.