What did you do with your Monday evening? Western Plains, Sophomore Kelsey Wick, and Art Teacher Chealsea Weaver met with Jee Hwang, Assistant Professor, Painting, Fort Hays State University Department of Art and Design, for the first high school portfolio day offered by the Department of Art and Design at Fort Hays State University on Monday evening, February 6, 2023.

State art teachers received an email about the event on Jan. 30th, giving Wick only six days to prepare a portfolio for the event. Portfolios were to include students’ artwork, their career/college goals, and their major(s)/ interests of study. “My major areas of interest include Illustration, Painting, Creative Writing, Graphic Design, and Journalism,” Wick told professor Hwang.

Participants had the opportunity to sit in a Zoom Meeting with a FHSU Art Department professor to showcase their portfolios. The department matched the professor that best corresponded with the student’s area(s) of interest.

“I hope to be an illustrator and or concept design artist, maybe one that works for video game-making companies,” said Wick. Much of Wick’s art portfolio displays high fantasy fan art, along with original characters from her own spin-off stories of her favorite games like Skyrim or Daggerfall.

Hwang stated that Wick, “Has really developed her skills and style doing a nice job with the human figure.” Wick connected with Hwang through the Newline Flex board in the art room on Zoom. “It went more casually and smoothly than expected; it was certainly an experience to show my work off to a college professor,” said Wick.

“I always keep an eye out for ways to expose my high school students to post-secondary experiences in the arts. I am proud of Kelsey for seizing this opportunity,” said Weaver. “It is not every day that a high school student gets a chance to have their artwork critiqued and/or validated by anyone other than their art teacher.”

Wick came away from the portfolio review with a better sense of how she can adapt her focus to reach her college goals. “It was a good experience because now I know what to keep working on,” said Wick.

All in all, for this high school student, her Monday evening was a productive one, giving her another step in the stepping stones toward post-secondary education.

If you would like to view Kelsey's Portfolio in full, you can find it at https://www.usd106.org/teacher...

Western Plains USD 106

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