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Posted: 4/2/24
The silence was striking in the Intermediate Visual Arts class at East Mecklenburg High School, except for the constant tap-tap-tapping of pens repeatedly striking paper. Students were immersed in stippling, using tiny dots of color to form a pattern – in this case, a Victorian door.
“As you can see, they're just working,” said Tina Vincent, who has taught art for 15 years. “This is my third year here at East, and the amount of success the students are having is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. We have a lot of creative students here that seem to excel, and I think the environment helps because there's a lot of seriousness academically.”
The Visual Arts program plays an important role in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, as the arts help students learn to think critically, find creative approaches to solving problems and stimulate learning across the curriculum. The program draws upon a range of intelligence and learning styles, and helps students create brain connections that will have a long-term impact on their adult life. The district recognized its arts programs during Arts in Our Schools Month in March and has a new partnership with Charlotte City Partners and the Charlotte SHOUT! arts and music festival. The festival runs through April 14 and will feature the CMS K-12 Visual Arts Exhibition.
Vincent said her students can go really far with their art, whether they come in as beginners or are already doing gallery-standard work.
“When I receive students, I like to meet them where they are,” she said. “I try to create lessons that are challenging enough for the ones who are learning but are not too hard, and yet the highfliers are still able to be challenged and basically grow within the project and not feel bored.”
Freshman Lilliana Salvatore took art classes in middle school, as well as art classes outside of school. She is one of the school’s silver medalists in the Scholastic Art Show 2024, which runs through April 14 at the Mint Museum Uptown, with a colorful still-life painting of treats from Amélie’s bakery.
“I had an A in art in middle school, but when I went to classes outside of school, I felt like I wasn't really excelling,” Lilliana said. “Honestly, when I started taking this class, I did a lot better. I have a painting in the museum now, and I've been to two art shows – I was so excited. I didn't do anything like that before.”
Sophomore Maris McDonald has loved art since she was young and said her favorite technique is collage, where an art piece is created from different elements. She said there’s nothing definitive with collage, that it can always be changed, which is the reason she loves art in general.
“I really like expressing myself and kind of getting to do my own thing,” she said. “It’s not like other classes – there’s not something that's really right or wrong. There are no rules to art. I'm still finding out all these different techniques and projects and ideas that I just have so much fun with, switching them up all the time.”
Those different interests of students keep Vincent on her toes, as an artist and as a teacher. She said it’s important to stay open to learning and trying new things, such as iPad drawing, which she’s now embraced.
“I’ve become a stronger artist because my kids force me out of my comfort zone,” Vincent said. “I always have to be improving myself and trying to find ways to reach them where they are.”
