Artwork by Liberty High School seniors featured at BWI Marshall Airport – Baltimore Sun

17-year-old Liberty High School senior Erin Budde went from being a novice in digital arts to showcasing her work in the BWI Marshall Airport gallery alongside the work of Liberty High School senior and best friend Gillian Casey. rice field.

The digital vector artwork of the two students was submitted by Lauren Latane-Valis, an art teacher at Liberty High School, to the Annual Call for Youth Artwork published by the Maryland Association for Art Education. The association selects student works to be exhibited at the airport every spring.

According to Latane-Valis, digital art class offerings have expanded since the introduction of 1:1 laptops for students. She added that there were so many gallery-worthy pieces she completed in Liberty’s art class that it was difficult to narrow her work down to just her two submissions.

“Those two pieces stood out as being of particular interest,” says Latane-Valis.

The students’ work will be exhibited in the observation gallery on the 2nd floor of the airport until May.

Casey, 17, from Sykesville, is a student in Liberty’s Honors Digital Media Art and Design class. Casey chose actor girlfriend Jessie Mei Li as the subject of her portrait. This was inspired by her performance on Li’s show “Shadow and Bone” and Li’s environmental activism. Casey spent about six hours creating the piece.

The pale blue background of the work was carefully chosen to complement the subject’s complex skin tones, while the floral background was created to reflect the idea of ​​environmental activism.

Casey used Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to complete portrait assignments, and said familiarity with both programs was an advantage. The detailed flowers in the background of the portrait were created in Adobe Illustrator before the art was reconstructed in Photoshop.

“I love seeing art expressed in public,” Casey said. “So I am very happy that my work has been chosen to represent the art of our school.

Casey said she hopes the theme of unique inner and outer beauty will resonate with viewers.

“I wanted it to be a very happy, bright piece that portrays how that person lives in their real life and work,” Casey said.

Art has always been a part of Casey’s life, but taking a graphic design class unleashed his passion and helped determine the senior’s career path. Casey plans to major in graphic design with a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Budde of Sykesville is a student in the AP Art and Design course at Latane-Valis at Liberty High. Budde has completed many other art classes at the school, and this year he was due to take an AP art class in pencil and paper, but ended up in an art and design class. he said. Although she had little experience with the software used in her classes, she quickly learned the skills necessary to succeed and soon began producing exemplary art.

Budde spent over 8 hours completing the assignment. According to Rattan-Vallis, AP Art students are given more freedom in their creations, and Budde decided to encapsulate scenes from his favorite hobby, swimming.

“I’ve been a competitive swimmer since I was four years old,” said Budde. “It has been a big part of my life with art.

The glass goggles depicted in Budde’s work are based on the goggles that swimmers wear to practice every day. Budde said the color motifs in the piece were chosen to reflect the mundane elements of the often exciting sport.

“You can be an athlete and you can enjoy art,” Budde said. “A lot of people think it’s one or the other, but you can actually do both.”

Budde majored in biology and plans to continue swimming at the University of Richmond, she said.

Budde said the challenge was tough to complete, but it taught him a deep lesson about taking risks and giving it his all.