Chaffin Middle School has never had an art show focused solely on the students’ artwork at Chaffin. All of the art displays have been during parent teacher conferences. Chaffin should have an art show as a solo event to showcase all of their students’ hard work.

Chaffin provides a nine week art class to 6th graders, and a semester long class to 7th and 8th graders. Students work very hard during the span of their art class. They deserve to have all of their hard work and dedication displayed to more people than just their parents. The parents are going to see their child’s artwork when they take it home, but other students will not have an opportunity to see it. 

Many students do not go to parent teacher conferences, because their parents want to have private one-on-one conversations with their child’s teachers. Other students do not want to spend an evening at school with their teachers right after a whole school day.

Chaffin’s art students do not have any other opportunities to showcase their art other than a competition in Van Buren that has not displayed a Chaffin student’s artwork in several years. 

The art students deserve to have their art appreciated not just as a side piece, but as something magnificent. Art shows allow even the shyest students to blossom in society. Art is a wondrous tool of expression. Students can truly express themselves through their art. They can even be able to communicate something that words can not describe. 

On the contrary, others believe art shows cause students to feel unnecessary pressure, and lose sight of the true meaning of creating art. They may start to panic or stress if they are aware many people will see their work. The stress could cause them to become focused on perfecting every little detail about their work, instead of enjoying the process. Art is supposed to be fun, and allow students to be creative, not cause them even more work. Although students may feel more pressure, they can use it as motivation to work harder.

When asked about what her opinions were on Chaffin having its own student art show, Chaffin Middle School art teacher Jenifer Frost expressed, “I think that would be really beneficial because I want students to be proud of the work they make. I want them to feel like they are making something interesting, and something people would want to see. I think it is good for people’s self esteem when they feel like their art is important, and not just alright I did it, now I am done with it.”