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Meridian High School’s lobby became a gallery on Wednesday evening, April 15, as students unveiled the paintings, photographs, ceramics and mixed-media works they spent as long as two years developing.

Families, friends and other visitors gathered for the opening of the school’s IB Art Show, a culminating exhibition designed to demonstrate the students’ experimentation, creative development and willingness to take risks.

IB Art and Photography teacher Sarah Gurgo said the exhibition represents only part of the program’s requirements. Students must also submit portfolios showing their work with two- and three-dimensional media, along with lens-based forms such as photography and digital art. Those portfolios are sent to the International Baccalaureate program in Belgium.

Gurgo said at least five participating students plan to attend art school after graduation. Others expect to pursue different fields but chose the demanding course because of their interest and ability in art.

Visual art challenges students to develop original ideas and communicate them without relying solely on words, Gurgo said. Because the course is largely student-directed, participants have considerable freedom to decide what they want to create and express.

The classroom can also provide relief from an otherwise test-heavy academic schedule. Gurgo described art as an outlet for students managing rigorous coursework, even though IB Art itself requires substantial effort.

Many of the exhibitors began taking art classes as freshmen. Gurgo said she has watched their technique, maturity and thinking evolve throughout high school.

Meridian supports classes across visual art, performing art and design, she said. Gurgo studied graphic design in college and had not encountered the IB program while growing up in Pennsylvania. Although others discouraged her from teaching when she was younger, she ultimately found her way into the profession.

Students Put Their Ideas on Display

Senior Rachel Grooms said her collection captured the path she followed during two years of Higher Level IB Art. Because journalism prevented her from fitting the regular IB Art class into her schedule, she completed the program independently while enrolled in another art class.

The arrangement limited her opportunities to collaborate with other IB artists during her final year, but it also gave her more time to work directly with Gurgo.

Grooms combined collage and painting in several pieces and experimented more heavily with paint, a medium she previously considered outside her comfort zone. Although she is more interested in science than an art career, she said creative thinking and the humanities can help build stronger scientific institutions.

She expects to continue photography, photojournalism and drawing as personal interests and possibly take small photography commissions.

Street artists Banksy and Stinkfish influenced Grooms’ interest in questioning traditional definitions of art and making it more accessible. She previously worked with Adi Rose Henderson and another classmate on a mural at Borek-G’s restaurant.

As a sophomore, Grooms also created a school mural connected to New York City’s You Are Not Alone Mural Project for suicide prevention.

Much of her exhibition examined pressure at school and in society. One project deconstructed the board game “Life” to represent the different routes and difficulties people encounter.

Her painting “Okay” explored the contrast between a person’s crowded internal thoughts and the simple outward claim that everything is fine. A photograph titled “Home” depicted a homeless man playing with his dog, which wore a unicorn-themed My Little Pony tutu. Grooms viewed the scene as an image of affection and belonging without a conventional house.

Senior Ash Kosmider was pleased to see two years of work assembled for classmates, teachers and other visitors. She said IB Art differed from more structured courses because students could pursue subjects that interested them.

That independence came with extensive writing and research. Each exhibition display included an artist’s statement explaining its themes and historical influences.

Kosmider said the research directly shaped some of her work. Her painting “The Blueberry House,” inspired by Edward Hopper’s “Haskell’s House,” began when Hopper’s image reminded her of her grandparents’ home.

She plans to study science, with an emphasis on astronomy, in college. Before then, she was scheduled to join other Meridian students at Falls Church Arts Day that Saturday.

Friendship, Identity and a First Sale

Friends Kira Pike and Adi Rose Henderson installed their collections across from each other. Pike nearly remained in the regular art program, but Henderson persuaded her to take Standard Level IB Art during senior year.

Pike organized her display around fictional merchandise, including works modeled on album covers, movie posters and puzzle boxes. Some pieces also reflected her identity and personal interests.

An English lesson about the visual language of album covers helped inspire the collection. While classmates often addressed history or social justice, Pike described her own work as playful and self-indulgent rather than an attempt to make a forceful statement.

The workload exceeded what she would have faced in a non-IB course, but Pike said it pushed her to broaden her creative range.

Her stepmother, Kathi Pike, said it was inspiring to watch Kira explain a collection she had seen taking shape at home. She viewed the course as an opportunity for students to express emotions they might not yet fully understand.

That freedom also makes the program challenging, she said. Students must balance creative work and research with the many other demands of senior year.

Across the lobby, Henderson celebrated another milestone: selling her first artwork. Meridian’s IB Diploma coordinator purchased “Finger Painting (yellow),” a Minion-themed piece featuring bananas and a goggle-wearing figure, after saying his children liked bananas.

Henderson jokingly recounted a rapid negotiation that began with her asking $200 and the buyer offering $50. They eventually agreed on $126 and sealed the deal with a handshake.

A Higher Level IB Art student, Henderson said she enjoyed seeing her classmates’ colors, concepts and ideas gathered in one place. Her own large collection required considerable display space.

Henderson planned to attend Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts in the fall. She primarily works in digital media and acrylic paint but was also taking ceramics. People, storytelling and intense color feature prominently in her art—as they have in her rainbow hair and the pink walls and rainbow ceiling of her bedroom.

Ceramics Take Center Stage

Brittany Sakata said the exhibition gave her a new view of the work her daughter, senior Sabrina Sakata, had produced throughout the year. At home, she often saw pieces Sabrina did not yet consider finished or successful. At the show, she could see which works her daughter selected to represent herself as an artist.

She praised Meridian’s curriculum for supporting students’ individual talents while giving them a creative outlet amid a stressful academic schedule.

Although Sabrina primarily works in ceramics, her IB display included every required form of media, among them charcoal, paint, collage, fabric and clay.

Her elaborate ceramic bowls demanded especially lengthy preparation. Sabrina threw the bowls on a wheel, shaped leaves and flowers by hand, waited for the components to dry and then attached them. Some works took months, and delicate leaf details required careful control of thickness to prevent them from falling off.

Sabrina dedicated charcoal drawings inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe to her mother. Her other influences included collage artist Kurt Schwitters and contemporary ceramic artist Chala Toprak, whose flowing leaf designs informed pieces such as “Michael’s Blue Garden” and “Green Bloom.” She dedicated “Michael’s Blue Garden” to her father because blue is his favorite color.

Sabrina said the program gave her sufficient time to research artists before developing her own responses to their work. Gurgo allowed her to concentrate on ceramics even though many classmates focused more heavily on painting, while ceramics teacher Ms. Leigh also provided assistance.

At Miami University in Ohio, Sabrina planned to major in business and was considering a ceramics minor. She said the university’s large ceramics facilities left her eager to continue experimenting.

For Sabrina, the Meridian exhibition also offered a rare opportunity to see the full scope of her classmates’ work and learn what each person had been creating. After months and years of private effort, the show brought those separate artistic journeys together in one public celebration.