Visual Arts

November 2, 2024

Día de los Muertos

The Día de los Muertos celebration at Morningside Urban Farm, artistically conceptualized by Brian Counihan, was a vibrant event focused on cultural expression and community involvement. Throughout the month, various workshops, including a sugar skull crafting session by artist Zuheil Alvarez Cortes, engaged participants in the celebration’s artistic traditions.

The final event was a community ritual and celebration which featured a beautifully constructed altar for honoring the deceased, live music, hands-on activity stations, traditional foods, and educational opportunities to learn about the significance of Día de los Muertos. The event invited everyone to participate, whether they were familiar with the traditions or new to them, which offered a unique opportunity for reflection and connection.

October 31, 2024

Gristle Butter #14

Click here to download the Fall 2024 edition of Gristle Butter. This collection is made up of contributions from Tsula A, Avery M, Daniel A, Odessa M, and Maddox B.

May 13, 2024

Spring 2024 Gristle Butter Issue #13

Click here to read Gristle Butter #13, featuring Zora D, Marlee C, Brittney M, Daniel A, Hazel W, Rowan S, Maddox B, Wilson K, Jay S (‘22), Vanessa B, Isha H, Tristan S, Avery M, Ebelin R, and Miles C …along with contributions from the Spanish III/IV class and other anonymous community members!

This is the largest Gristle Butter publication to date, containing over 30 submissions!

April 25, 2024

Spring 2024 Gristle Butter Issue #12

Click here to read Gristle Butter #12, featuring Zora D, Novie H, Daniel A, and Maddox B.

November 30, 2023

Artificial Intelligence in the Photo World

Futuristic photographic techniques also inspire creativity at CHS. As the Digital Photography class reached back into history to learn from their photophilic ancestors, they look inward — what is conscious image-making, they asked, as they read articles on the changes generative software (ie AI) is causing in the photo world. Is an AI composition your composition? Is the prompt where art’s aura belongs? Or do the programers themselves constitute the creative force behind these algorithmic collage making machines? The class investigated these questions, and more, by becoming the Chinese Box themselves. One student acted as the deciding portion of a typical AI program, executing the command YES or NO, as their compatriots went through a data set (a bunch of National Geographics — thanks zine club) to satisfy a prompt generated by other classmates. Feast your eyes!

Caption of above photo: King Kong, Eiffel Tower, sunrise (night)

: a birds eye view of the US Capital building at night

: Walter and Jesse busting down

: a little boy in a city dancing

November 23, 2023

Cyanotypes

Traditional photographic techniques inspire creativity at CHS. CHS’s Digital Photography class hasn’t limited itself to creating images using cameras alone. In a scintillating display of technical and conceptual unity, these students have boldly captured images of high contrast and printed them using a few chemicals and the power of the sun: Cyanotypes.

October 31, 2023

Narrative Drawing

Enjoy these drawings from some of Brian’s Narrative Drawing students.

: Avery M

: Odessa M

: Kylie #1

: Kylie #2

October 10, 2023

Manipulation in Three Dimensions

The students in 3D Modeling and Sculpture learned about basic geometry creation and manipulation in 3D space. Using a 3D art program blender they each created a photo composition in 3D, including custom objects that they created themselves. Individual vertices are manually placed, and extrapolated into Three Dimensional forms.

Students also learned about using virtual lights to give their scenes unique moods and appearances.
Finn is very proud of how his students have gone above and beyond in these first projects, noting that the outcomes speak for themselves.

: Derek

: Katherine

: Loic

: Maddox

: Nika

: Olvia

: Oscar

: Tristan

: Tyrique

: Zora

April 15, 2023

Daisy Art Parade 2023

CHS Humanities and art teacher, Brian Counihan, was the SE Artist in Residence who lead up the parade and weekly workshops for the Daisy Art Parade in 2023. Brian used to organize the Marginal Arts Festival, and the parade was what Roanokers looked forward to most.

Local community groups and individuals were invited to create art together, and parade their creations, or other performances through the streets of Roanoke.

What is the Daisy Art Parade?

As of July 1, 2022 Roanoke launched its “Year Of The Artist” initiative which it describes as being “aimed at brainstorming new ways to support creative types, meet community challenges and further integrate the arts into the city’s fabric”. Making art can bring purpose and healing when our lives are stressful. Making art can bring people together, build community and help communities have common purpose with their neighbors. We want to help the citizens of our city to start community art making groups that we call krewes.

Brian’s entry in the parade was a 14 foot Tall Lucy Addison puppet, and a gaggle of her students.

For more information about this event, enjoy these articles and news posts from Marcaroni KID, Cardinal News, Roanoke Arts Commission, Virginia’s Blue Ridge, WDBJ, WSAZ, and The Roanoker.

To enjoy more photos and videos from the day, please visit Daisy Art Parade.

May 13, 2022

New Decor Appears In the Student Lounge

The Puppets and Creepy Dolls class has contributed to the decor in the student lounge. But not all of the dolls are creepy. Zora D. made this adorable bunny without the assistance of a pattern!