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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

BRANDON - The art room at Brandon High School was an explosion of colors, sounds, smells and creativity when students opened their doors last week to showcase their talents and celebrate the holidays with classmates, friends, relatives and alumni.

It's an annual rite at Brandon High, but this year's art class open house had a new motif. Called Cafe Noel, it featured comfortable chairs for lounging in front of the stage, the aromas and tastes of exotic coffees along with the traditional variety of visual arts on display.

The stars of the show were art teacher Nancy Kirkpatrick, the 17-member Brandon High art club and students in Kirkpatrick's art classes.

Proceeds from sales of refreshments, an art auction and an art contest during the two-day open house will help pay for art supplies.

Former Brandon High art student Laura Nuckles of Tampa, who graduated last year, joined other alumni, students and a few adults who dropped by.

"I had Mrs. Kirkpatrick for three years. I tried to get her all four but couldn't. She is one of the best teachers I have known," Nuckles said.

Nuckles, who likes to work in mixed media, said she sought Kirkpatrick's advice and appreciated the expertise offered by artists the teacher invited to her class.

"I remember an artist who came and said we should never say our art is bad. He said you have to love your work," she said.
Nuckles will major in marine biology at Central Florida Community College next semester, though she expects to remain active in art.

Connie Reynolds, 17, displayed a three-dimensional work called "Little Musical Chair."

Kirkpatrick gave her the student desk unadorned and asked whether she would like to use it for a project.

"When I got the chair, I knew what I wanted to do with it," she said. "I want to be on Broadway, and my dad was a piano tuner, so I painted it white and put a keyboard on top and Broadway themes on the seat," she said.

She wants to perform on Broadway, she said, "to show everyone that ordinary people can make a difference."

A senior at Brandon High, she plans to major in musical theater at Florida State University beginning next year.

"I will never give up my art," she said. "Art is big part of my life. When I can't express myself with music, then I draw it."

Desiree Gelfenstein, 16, a sophomore, ran the auction counter, where customers could bid on coffee mugs made by the art students. She didn't make a mug, but she did have a painting on display.

The stage offered students and others opportunities to tell stories or read poems.

Alex Oyemade, 16, read her poem, "Out of the Darkness," inspired by her boyfriend of three years.

"He opened my world to a better place," she said. "He was like my light in the darkness."

Kirkpatrick is a practicing artist who has been teaching at Brandon High for five years. She offers instruction in drawing, painting, ceramics and "whatever we have to work with."

She was joined at the open house by her mom, also named Nancy Kirkpatrick, who teaches art for the Temple Terrace recreation department.

Last year, Brandon High art students decorated 50 donated glass wind chimes with sandblasted designs.

"I am always looking for artists to come and speak, and for donated materials," the younger Kirkpatrick said.

Although she paints almost every day in her classes, Kirkpatrick said she completes only about three projects a year. Often, she said, she starts a project and gives it to one of her students to finish.

"I like to get people to make art. I can help with ideas and techniques and enjoy watching things happen," she said.

Art is important, she said, "Because it says what words cannot about our human experience."

CONTEST WINNERS

Student winners in the Brandon High School art contests were:

DRAWING AND PAINTING: Kristine Trujillo, Frankie Torres and Ariann Seay

SCULPTURE: Andrea Lahaie, Josh Haley and Kailey Crego

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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