In Hillhouse Classroom, ​“Art Is Power”

With pop artist Keith Haring in mind, Hillhouse High School junior Emonie Jackson imagined up a chicken leg, to-go cup, and ketchup bottle all with arms and legs — and then penned those images to paper, honing her own creative style and skills amid her classroom’s dive into recent art history.

Jackson put that art knowledge into practice Thursday morning at Hillhouse High School as one of the students in the Art 1 and 2 classes taught by art teacher Rebecca LeQuire. 

For the last two weeks students have been learning about the late pop artist Keith Haring, a muralist and AIDS awareness activist who worked in New York City in the 1980s.

Thursday’s class marked the latest in LeQuire’s efforts to introduce students to several artists and art styles. LeQuire, who first started teaching in 2008, also challenges her students to mix mediums in pieces, layer their art, identify negative space, and create stories with their projects.

LeQuire’s students recently finished up lessons in cursive writing to create their signatures for their pieces and created works inspired by Brandon Sadler’s Black Panther. 

LeQuire’s lessons use a rubric requiring students to grade themselves out of 25 points then have a peer grade them as well. The peer must provide their partner with a ​“glow” note meaning something they did well then a ​“grow” note for the student-artist to know something they can improve on. 

Once the student receives the feedback from their peer, they are able to make adjustments to their projects before handing it in to LeQuire, who provides the final grade. 

In order for students to blow up their pieces onto poster papers, LeQuire on Thursday had them put the poster paper on the smart board at the front of the room. As they did that she projected a picture of their pieces onto the board for them to trace onto their posters. 

One student projected their drawing of a pizza pie with inspiration from Haring’s style. Students created these Haring projects with a food theme to decorate the Sherman Parkway high school’s cafeteria. 

While making rounds in her classroom, LeQuire reminded students that ​“TikTok is not going to help you in this class right now” and that Haring’s style is ​“very basic, like a kid’s.”

Several of LeQuire’s advanced Art 2 students also worked on independent study projects during Thursday’s class. 

Those who did were pushed to use an art medium they typically don’t use. They also were tasked with a college-style process where the students had to present LeQuire with a project proposal and impact statement for their ideas. 

While LeQuire checked in on those students working on larger independent study projects in the art wing hallway, she checked in with the occasional students passing her classroom in the hallway by asking them ​“Are you smiling today or what?” 

Figuring Out "How Faces Work"

Art 2 student and Hillhouse junior Selena Feliciano took on an independent study project that involves painting a floor-to-ceiling high mural of her choice in the school’s art wing. 

Feliciano used acrylic and house paints to create a mural of LGBTQ+ liberation activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. ​“We have a lot of Hispanic and LGBTQ students that aren’t recognized,” she said. 

Around the corner from the art classes, the sounds of Hillhouse’s band students practicing rumbled through the nearby classrooms and hallways. 

The first time Feliciano learned about Marsha P. Johnson was in the fifth grade and when tasked with creating a culture-focused mural, Johnson immediately came to mind. 

Feliciano learned about Rivera while doing research on Johnson and finding a picture of the two together at the 1969 Stonewall uprising. ​“These two would be perfect,” she thought to herself when deciding on her independent study project idea, which she aimed to use to celebrate Hispanic and Black heritage and LGBTQ+ pride at her school. 

Typically Feliciano makes art with pen or pencil. The Thursday mural was a challenge not only because of the change in her medium but also because she usually draws the same 5 – 10 celebrity faces. 

Feliciano’s favorite celebrities, like actor Mads Mikkelsen, are her usual muses as she works to improve her realistic drawings. ​“If I study one person’s face well then I can do others,” she said. 

This tactic over the years proved to be true Thursday as Feliciano worked on shading Johnson’s lips, eyes, and blushed cheekbones. 

While practicing the same faces, Feliciano said she learned to look at ​“how faces work,” meaning paying close attention to the fine lines around a person’s cheeks and the way their nose may scrunch when they smile. 

When asked why making art at her school is important, Feliciano said, ​“If you’re unhappy with how your school looks then make your mark,” she said. 

“I might not be the top of my class but I have this when I’m gone,” she added. 

Her hope is that the mural will both ​“be there for someone who wants to learn” about Johnson and Rivera and act as a statement that the school supports its LGBTQ+ community. 

Hillhouse junior David Coardes, 17, worked on a canvas project inspired by Haring’s child-like and simple designs during LeQuire’s Art 2 class. He also used inspiration from his bedroom at home by using blue and silver tones throughout his project. 

He collaborated with a teammate for his project. The two split the canvas in half and each painted to similar themes on their respective sides. Coardes’ side of the canvas included Haring-inspired hearts and a butterfly wing that resembled a photo of a Monarch butterfly he captured while practicing his photography. 

Art is no longer just made for museums or to be looked at, Coardes said. He most enjoys art that can be worn. ​“We wear artwork now, not just look at it,” he said. 

When Coardes first took an art class with LeQuire, he would typically sit in the back of the class quietly. Now he’s learned that ​“art is very calming” and he’s more confident with speaking up in class and partnering with his peers to make art. 

One of Coardes’ favorite art projects was creating a piece inspired by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He’s since hung his piece in his bedroom and occasionally finds himself incorporating Basquiat key elements and themes into his personal works. 

LeQuire’s goal is to introduce students to as many artists as possible, she said. 

Many students enjoy the time to make art so much that they create projects beyond their assigned class lessons using inspiration from artists that they’ve learned about at Hilhouse from LeQuire. 

Junior Imani Roberts painted on old football helmet she found in the art room’s closet using matte paint. 

LeQuire, who has been at Hillhouse for the past three years, has several ideas for enhancing Hillhouse’s art scene.

She hopes to secure a MacBook in the near future to convert student art projects into photos to then broadcast the art onto the TV’s around the school for the school community to enjoy along with background music provided by the school’s band students. 

At the back of LeQuire’s class are doors leading to an enclosed outdoor green space that often goes unused, she said. 

She hopes to use the space more and to encourage the school to have gardening, landscaping, and interior painting lessons for students to gain life skills. In recent years she’s applied for grants to bring more programming to the outdoor space but did not receive the funding. 

“It’s a safe space where they don’t have to watch their back,” she added. 

Last year LeQuire’s students painted the picnic tables in the space blue to match Hillhouse’s school colors. 

"Art Is Power"

LeQuire buys her classroom a variety of art tools like light boxes, projectors, and sharpies and as a result ​“behavior management goes down,” she said, because students are more efficient when provided with quality materials that show a teacher’s investment in their learning. 

LeQuire added that as a sculptor by trade she teaches students drawing and painting tips like using a projector to trace pieces which helps to practice a style and then can lead to the students creating their own style. 

At the start of each unit LeQuire leads her students in an online presentation on the artist with video and picture examples of the artist’s key elements. 

In Haring’s case the students were taught about his bold lines, simple and child-like style, and movement lines. 

LeQuire has also done collaborative projects with fellow Hillhouse art teacher Reggie Augustine whose classroom is next door to hers. 

The duo had their students create awareness posters focused on a topic of their choice. The assignment required the students to include five awareness facts on their posters. 

The students’ posters now line the art wing hallway by the dozens, on topics ranging from suicide awareness and calls to stop vaping to bullying awareness and climate justice. 

Art 1 and 2 students worked in their personal interests like Spiderman and The Boondocks into their Haring-inspired projects. 

While some students worked while listening to their own music, LeQuire occasionally called out, ​“Alexa turn the music up” to softly play songs like ​“If It’s Love” by Kem, ​“He Love Me” by Jill Scott, and ​“Location” by Khalid throughout the class. 

LeQuire emphasized the importance of building relationships with the students in her classroom. While she has the occasional student who still remains uninterested in her class she has dozens who, despite not having her on their schedule, beg to spend class periods with her and make art. 

“Once you build relationships you’re good. They have your back,” LeQuire said while dismissing students who, before heading out her classroom door, called out to her, ​“Love you!”

Senior Carlos Kirklan said he uses art classes ​“as an escape” and a chance to get out his creative thoughts. 

“Art is power,” he said.