A professional school gallery.

The "starving artist" has been with us for a long time--in reality and in our imagination. This troubled figure works in a garret, produces brilliant work that remains unnoticed, sells nothing and goes hungry. But there is another kind of starvation that affects art students in our high schools--young people who are hungry for an opportunity to have their work appreciated in a way it cannot be when it's stapled to a bulletin board in the corner of a basement room.

These students would benefit from having a proper place to display their work; they would also benefit from spending time--even a few minutes each day--looking at work by professional artists on display. Though most high schools devote thousands of square feet to their gyms, tennis courts and swimming pools, few set aside space to be used for the sole purpose of displaying artwork.

The Beginnings

Several years ago, when I was a junior at Madison West High School, I participated in the creation of a student art gallery. The project gave those of us who participated a chance to do far more than show our own work. As we designed our first professional show, selected and hung pieces, and even produced a small catalog, we learned that the art world runs on schedules, budgets, meetings and planning as much as on creativity.

The gallery project at West was organized by Don Hunt, who teaches sculpture and pottery. During a recent conversation, he described some of the frustrations he experiences trying to display student work in a suitable manner. He points out that trophies are frequently given more display space than student art. A piece stapled or tacked to a cork board is not likely to elicit more response than a mimeographed announcement sheet. Teachers may find it impossible to exhibit framed work, pottery, jewelry and sculpture, which are too often left to gather dust in a locker. Using a hallway or gym to display three-dimensional pieces exposes them to damage from carelessness and vandalism.

Design and Display

The student gallery solved many of these problems--it provided a permanent exhibit space for both student and professional art. There were no restrictions on what kinds of fasteners could be put in the walls. A display case was installed for jewelry and other three-dimensional items. Free-standing pedestals could be arranged to display pots or small sculpture. The gallery door could be locked to ensure security after hours.

The appearance of the gallery was equal to its purpose. The room was fully remodeled for the gallery. The white walls, gray carpet and track lighting were particularly appropriate and distinctive features. Clearly this room hadn't just been called a gallery; it had been explicitly designed and constructed to be a gallery. Students and professionals would be proud to show their work in it.

The gallery was centrally located in the building, between the library and the main floor hallway. Mr. Hunt was determined that the gallery be in a place where students would pass it regularly. Putting the gallery in a favorable location emphasized to students, parents and school administrators the importance of art education. In the words of Mr. Hunt: "You need a space where you can see that the arts have been given priority. It's not a luxury space; it's a necessary space."

The gallery first played host to the Mini Museum project, a collaboration between West High and the Madison Art Center. Twenty students formed a Gallery Committee. With the help of Mr. Hunt and the art center staff, committee members assembled a show of professional work from the permanent collection at the Madison Art Center.

After a crash course in graphics and layout from a Madison commercial artist who volunteered his help, I designed a cover for our catalog, which boasted typeset text and halftone reproductions of several pieces. While I was at work with T-square and line tape, other students were installing the show. Invitation cards were sent out for an opening reception and open house. Guests at these events were as excited as students about the addition of such an unusual and beautiful facility to the school.

A Host of Opportunities

Since its opening, the gallery has been used for different kinds of shows. Students are, of course, given the opportunity to exhibit their work. When planning non-student shows, Mr. Hunt has given priority to West High graduates who have gone on to receive advanced art degrees. This demonstrates to students that what they are learning in high school can be the basis for further education or a career in art. He also favors showing work by local artists as a means of strengthening ties between school and community. West High has an artist-in-residence program, which allows guest artists to display work in the gallery while teaching classes.

Mr. Hunt tries to select shows with controversial themes. When I was a student, one professional show included life-size casts of nude male figures. Exposure to such controversy is an important aspect of any introduction to the art world.

Balancing the Budget

The gallery is funded by a number of sources, including the PTSO parents, benefactors and private donors. Within the school, money comes from the optional $5 student membership fee, and from the proceeds of a spring auction of student pottery. Mr. Hunt says that even a small membership fee makes students aware that no gallery can survive on inspiration alone. After all, if we pay even a little for an experience, it gains an importance, a legitimacy, it would not otherwise have had.

My involvement in the West High gallery project taught me skills I could not have learned behind a desk in a classroom. Communication, cooperation and compromise, were all vital to our work. Some of us learned how to handle works of art worth thousands of dollars, others how to lay out a page of text, or how to position a sculpture in a room so sunlight falls on it to its greatest advantage. in these ways, the gallery is still a part of our lives.