Students Hold Virtual Art Exhibition to Earn International Baccalaureate Art Certificates (Fall 2020)

After two years of International Baccalaureate (IB) Art classes, five Prout students dreamed up exhibits to showcase their work in the North Commons.

Pieces were matted, props arranged, and Kendra Gever ‘20, Sydney Householder ‘20, Gavin Gordon ‘20, Madison Gioffreda ‘20, and Addie Gazerro ‘20 were poised to proudly present their work to the community. But hours before the long-awaited showcase, a statewide announcement was made: all schools in Rhode Island were closed until further notice. This included the postponement of The Prout School’s first IB Art Exhibition.

“I felt like the students needed to show their work,” says IB Art teacher Kristen Rich when reflecting on the cancellation. “An important part of being an artist is exhibiting your work. Someone should be looking at it and questioning it and seeing it and thinking about what your intent was.”

Mrs. Rich decided COVID-19 would not slow the momentum built over the last few years of hard work. She chose to hold the exhibition virtually instead. Each student put together slideshows of what would have been on display, including the art and accompanying exhibition texts. Family, friends, and teachers joined via video call to watch the presentations and ask questions, just as they would have if wandering the show and engaging the artists.

This is the first year the IB Art certification has been completed by students at The Prout School. In order for students to earn the certificate, they must begin taking IB art courses their junior year, complete six courses by the end of senior year, and have a final exhibition. The program differs from other art classes by pushing students to proactively rather than reactively create.

“They learn to think for themselves,” says Mrs. Rich. “With IB Art, I don’t tell them, ‘here’s the project, here’s the prompt, solve the problem,’ or, ‘make a project based on that prompt.’ I tell them, ‘what do you want to work on? What is interesting to you?’ They literally have to find their own work.”

The call to “find their own work” meant projects varied in medium, from paint to ceramics. Kendra Gever created a unique ceramic piece that worked around a live plant, while Sydney Householder continued to refine her skill in portrait art. The other students focused on watercolor, collages, and acrylic on canvas diptych.

“In IB Art, it’s not about the grade: it’s about what the students are passionate about and what they feel they can speak to in their own artwork,” says Mrs. Rich. And with passion fueling them, each of the five students successfully earned the grades for the IB Art Certificate.