AMESBURY — The walls of Amesbury High School are going to be a lot more colorful, thanks to a grant from the Amesbury Educational Foundation Inc.
The $10,000 AEFI grant is for new gallery spaces, and art teacher Ken Parkinson hopes to have displays up as soon as possible.
Though the art department, which used to consist of one room, was upgraded in the AHS renovations to a whole new suite, including a room for two-dimensional study, a three-dimensional workroom, a new darkroom and six workstations for black and white film, the department was still missing something.
"It's a great building, but there's no permanent location to hang any artwork," Parkinson said.
Though students have shown their work at the Newburyport Art Association, Provident Bank in Amesbury and other local art shows and galleries, the grant will give them a chance to permanently show work at the school for peers to see.
"The kids need to show what they can do — they have to be recognized," Parkinson said.
He said the grant will fund a permanent hanging system that will showcase work in approximately 40 to 50 different locations, including areas on the first and second floors where students gather, the cafeteria, the corridor of the art department, the library, conference rooms, teachers' rooms and school offices, such as the principal's office, guidance office, nurse's office and main office.
"These are places where people from the community and visitors will see students' work when coming to the school," Parkinson said.
The permanent hanging system will feature a rail mounted above where the artwork is going, with tiny cables suspending the works, which will be framed using shatterproof glass.
The grant also allows for a moveable display system, which will allow short-term displays to be featured for special events like open houses or performances.
"If there's a major art show coming up, we can put examples up, or if there's a play or music performance, we could put photos of rehearsals outside the auditorium," Parkinson said.
With any leftover grant money, Parkinson plans to purchase a matte cutter and mattes for the artwork.
The grant is awarded to the Amesbury School system annually by AEFI. To date, AEFI has awarded more than $145,000 to Amesbury schools. Last year, Parkinson received a $1,984 grant for wooden studio easels for class work.
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