The weeklong Windham-Raymond District Art Show kicked off at Windham High School Monday evening, with painting, drawing and pottery demonstrations, a student performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, and a Cinco de Mayo parade.
According to the show’s organizer and art teacher, Angelika Blanchard, more than 2,000 pieces of art composed by Regional School Unit 14 students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade are featured in the show.
“It really is a show that kind of comes together like a puzzle, because there are so many pieces,” Blanchard said. “It’s got to be the biggest art show in the state.”
At the Monday evening gala kicking off the 14th annual show, Manchester School students marched with a Cinco De Mayo-themed shoestring puppet through the lobby of the high school, while Brenna Ryder, a Windham High School student, played the Moonlight Sonata on an electric keyboard. Meanwhile, Windham High School students Sam Martin and Alex Laferriere made pots on spinning wheels as Samantha Gledhill, a sophomore, drew her new kitten, Buttercup, and Bailey Card, a junior, painted herself.
“This is a live study,” Card said. “We want to show the people here what we do behind the scenes at school in our art classes. You can see the variation of students. We have people who draw, people who paint, people who are sculpting over there on wheels.”
Card, who was using black and white acrylic paint and an image on her iPhone to render a pointillist self-portrait, said that the arts at Windham High School are often overshadowed by sports.
“There’s a variety of art students in this school who don’t get as much credit as we deserve, and this is just to show and mainly influence and support younger kids who want to do art, too, and just to know that this is what people do and this is cool (so) don’t be ashamed of it,” Card said. “It’s not as popular as like sports and stuff. It’s kind of like the underdog that we’re trying to help bring up.”
Bailey Card, a Windham High School junior, uses black-and-white acrylic paint and an image on her iPhone to render a pointillist self-portrait during the opening night gala of the 14th annual Regional School Unit 14 District Art Show on Monday. More than 2,000 pieces of art are on public display at the high school this week. For more coverage, see pages 12-13. 
Windham High School students Sam Martin and Alex Laferriere demonstrate how to make pots on spinning wheels. 
More than 2,000 pieces of art composed by Regional School Unit 14 students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade are featured in the weeklong Windham-Raymond District Art Show.
Manchester School students and art teacher Angelika Blanchard, who organizes the annual District Art Show, marched with a Cinco De Mayo-themed shoestring puppet through the Windham High School lobby during the opening night’s gala. 
Brenna Ryder, a Windham High School senior, played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on an electric keyboard.
Samantha Gledhill, a Windham High School sophomore, drew her new kitten, Buttercup, in a demonstration at the opening night gala of the RSU 14 District Art Show.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
