In Focus: Cass Lake-Bena Students’ Artwork On Display At NTC

Students from Cass Lake-Bena High School celebrated the opening of an art gallery that showcases their work in the Student Success Center at Northwest Technical College. Their facial expressions were priceless as students walked into a room filled with their own artwork to be recognized and celebrated for the visual stories they told.

“And then today the artwork is here just to be a part of a display at our new Student Success Center, and really, to honor the students in terms of just their artistic abilities and celebrate their talents and to be able to give them a chance to show their artwork and be able to be proud of the work that they’ve done,” said Northwest Technical College Academic Affairs Vice-president Darrin Strosahl.

Art teacher Deborah Ross says that the students are in the process of learning about pre-historic and modern art as well as reading about the history of their culture and heritage.

“I feel that it encourages kids to pursue a career in art and they are very creative, our kids are very talented, they are open to other areas, so I would like to encourage them to go into different fields or career pathways with that,” said Cass Lake-Bena High School Visual Arts Teacher Deborah Ross.

Students were able to walk around the room and explain the purpose and process that went into the development of their pieces. Some students had multiple pieces on display while others told their personal stories.

“It’s really important to me because my family has a lot of background in art, especially my grandma, and she raised me so she’s really passionate about her artwork, and ever since I was growing up I’ve always done artwork with her, by her side and doing watercolors and all, that so it’s really important to me and what made me who I am,” said student Illeana Brown. “And sharing this artwork today is really meaningful to us because it give us more experience, more exposure, it helps kids understand that their artwork is very important and what they have to say is very important, so we appreciate it.”

They say that a picture paints a thousand words, and while some students were a bit camera shy, their artwork speaks for itself.

TrekNorth students also had artwork on display.