Story by Christina Burke
Managing Editor

Video by Kennedy Polk and Marisa Thakady
KCBY Staff

The students of Coppell High School have become quite familiar with a jump roping figure that hangs out in the main hallway. However, not every passer by knows that this figure is a work of art by AP 3-D Design student senior Melanie Talmadge.

Travel back behind the freshman stairs and you will see that the jump roper is not the only student work displayed in the hallways of CHS. From anti-gravity pieces to a gathering of elephant sculptures, advanced art teacher Tamera Westervelt takes pride in displaying her student’s work throughout the school.

“I am always looking for ways for students to showcase their work and their ideas,” Westervelt said. “That is one reason why I put as much artwork in the hallways as I can. It shows kids that their ideas are important and valuable, and it draws attention to our program as well.”

Westervelt has the privilege of working with students in AP Drawing, AP 2-D and AP 3-D Design. Many of these students have spent all their years of high school in art classrooms and even plan to make their passions into careers. Westervelt and the CHS art department have the privilege of helping them get there.

“The most fun thing about my job is that I usually get to teach kids for multiple years, so I become more of an art coach than an art teacher,” Westervelt said. “I get to see what students are interested in and where they want to go with their art to take them on that journey.”

After teaching advanced classes at CHS for 23 years, Westervelt knows how to challenge these young artists to really make them think, and gives them assignments with chances to display their ultimate creativity.

“I give the students concept based assignments where they really have to think about an idea and then match materials and mediums to those ideas,” Westervelt said. “It takes someone who is a risk taker. They are not afraid to fail and try different things, they just do it.”

In the case of Talmadge’s jump-roping figure, she took the idea of defying gravity and ran with it. She also covered it in confetti.

“The assignment was to make something that defies gravity out of packing tape, so I made a person jump roping,” Talmadge said. “I duct taped [senior] Rachel Velez’s entire body and then cut if off of her and taped it back together.”

The mind of an artist is fascinating, as they see everything through their own medium. Each artist has their own inspirations and aspirations that make their work all the more unique.

As an AP Drawing student, senior Cole Hansen finds his creative outlet through cartoons inspired by his childhood favorites.

“Walt Disney and DC Comics inspired me with their amazing animation and contribution to illustration,” Hansen said. “How they create worlds that let your imagination roam wild and how they guide you through their world with storytelling is incredible.”

Through his years of experience with advanced art classes, Hansen plans to continue his education at an art school and pursue art as a career. His dream job is to work as a cartoonist at DC Comics.

Junior Lovell Cox is an AP 2-D Design student who is well known for her creativity through her high waisted shorts business Lovellfaye Designs.

“Looking at any of my artwork, you can see my personality, and that’s what I love about it,” Cox said. “Whether it be something to do with my friends or my business, anything with bright colors or weird and unique, such as Andy Warhol’s pop art, is what inspires me.”

For many art students like Cox, art is an identity that they cannot imagine losing, but hopefully they will never have to.

“I honestly couldn’t see myself not going into a creative, artistic, fashion career because when I get older, I want to do something I love and can use my talents with,” Cox said. “Whether it be starting my own business or working for some kind of advertising, I will be using my art.”

While creativity is a clear necessity for these advanced art students, the best quality for an artist to have is an unquenchable desire to improve their work. The most unique thing about students in AP art classes is that they have the ability to express their creativity through these physical masterpieces that the students of CHS continue to appreciate every time they walk by.

“The majority of the students I have ever taught weren’t born with the skill [of art], but they were born with an interest in it,” Westervelt said. “It is a learned skill over time. Like anything else you do, the more you practice, the better you get. It’s not about how much talent you have, it’s how you express your ideas.”

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