As a continuation of the virtual gallery exhibits that have been designed this year in place of the traditional art exhibits held on campus, Middle and Upper School Visual Art Teacher Leslie Rucker has created a virtual gallery for her studio art courses.

This online gallery showcases her students’ works from the first semester and was designed using the same platform as the previous virtual gallery created by Fine Arts Instructor Thomas Martinez called artsteps. This platform allows for teachers to create a virtual walk-through experience for viewers to see their students’ work.

“If it was possible, in person viewing of art is the best. The nuances of the textures, color, and intricate detailing can be studied and appreciated more closely in person,” said Rucker. “Having said that, the online gallery is an amazing option, and it shows the students’ work in a realistic way. The chance to see student work in a gallery setting is better than seeing an individual image of the work and is the next best thing to seeing in person. The online format opens the work to a larger community who wouldn’t necessarily get to see the work as well.”

I really enjoyed taking some time to explore the gallery and see all of the amazing creations from the studio art students. The platform itself is very user-friendly and only takes a few seconds to load on either a computer or a mobile device.

I liked how each section of the online gallery was organized by focus. For example, there was one section devoted towards geometric abstraction that Rucker prompted her students with. All of the works of art attributed the student that had created them and the layout of the gallery was open and easy to navigate.

I think it is wonderful that the art teachers have found ways this year to adapt to not being able to hold traditional art galleries on campus. This virtual gallery is a great way to share students’ hard work and creativity with the school while keeping everyone safe.

In addition to this virtual gallery, four of Rucker’s studio art students were invited to showcase their work in Blue Print Gallery’s third annual student art exhibition. Amongst those four students is Senior Dulany Bloom, whose artwork titled “Eye Fish” made it into the Blue Print Gallery exhibition.

“It was really exciting to have my work showcased in the Blueprint Gallery and to be able to tour the exhibition with my friends and family. I was really amazed by the talent, detail, and scale of all the work in the exhibit,” said Bloom. “It has been somewhat challenging to be in an art class during COVID, having to bring my materials back and forth from school and home as well as staying motivated all the time. But these student artists and their work really inspired me and reminded me how much art matters and reinforced my motivation. I think the gallery was also just a great way to bring the community together and show off student artwork all across Dallas!”