This past May, just a few days before the Class of 2015’s graduation, nearly 100 family, friends, alumni, and fellow students gathered at Monsignor Edward Pace High School to admire artwork from Pace students and alumni at the 2015 Pace Gallery Art Show.
Marcel Navarro, lead teacher for the Academy of Visual Arts, organized the show, which featured works from Pace alumni, “Academy” students, and students from the school’s many art classes.
This year’s show had both its biggest turn out yet and the most students ever represented. A total of 50 pieces from 15 students and two Pace alumni were on display.
This year, Navarro increased student involvement by allowing them to pick their best work from their portfolios to display. While in the past, only works from specific projects were chosen, Navarro wanted to give his classes a bigger sense of ownership over their work. Students were made more responsible by not only deciding which pieces they would showcase, but also by hanging up and organizing the pieces on the show walls themselves.
All in attendance were notably impressed with the art and the show itself, but Navarro insists that it’s the students who put the work in.
“Students felt like they were part of the show last year, but this year they felt like they were the show,” said Navarro.
He hopes to expand further by reaching out to Pace faculty to show off their work and even moving to a new on-campus venue to accommodate the show’s growing size.