After only a year of teaching at Trinity High School, art teacher Mrs. Restaneo has already made her mark on the Washington community with the help of the talented students in her new art club.
The club dove headfirst into the community last year, painting the windows of local businesses. These outings allowed the students to express their creative visions and get a feel for the kind of teamwork and collaboration that will be needed for the rest of their lives.
Restaneo believes that these creative ventures are a valuable learning experience for all members, saying, “The students get to get out and see other businesses in town and interact with the owners. This prepares them to work in the community in the future and really ties the community to the school.”
The impact of these projects was immediate: earlier this year, the owner of the Gathering Place and Tea House on Route 40 reached out to Restaneo about a potential project for the art club after seeing their work downtown. After hours of planning, painting and collaborating, the club completed a mural on the side of a barn on the property.
This project allowed the students to show off their artistic talents to the world, with a group of eight students travelling there over three days to complete the mural. The artists behind this creative endeavor included: Coryn Stoy, Hailey Jasso, Joslyn Laberdee, Aliyah Emery, Brielle Line, Jojo Miller, Gianna D’Amico and Lucy Kumpfmiller.
“Doing things like [painting the barn] strengthens communities because we really try to work together, and with multiple people having different ideas to create something unique,” Laberdee adds.
After the success of the barn painting, the art club has no intentions of slowing down. Restaneo and her students all hope to see the numbers grow over the next few years as the club gets more involved. Moving forward, the club aims to become more active within the school as well as with more local businesses.
Kumpfmiller stresses the importance of this hope and believes that anyone and everyone should consider joining the art club: “You don’t need to be good at art to make a difference!”
By blending creativity, teamwork and community involvement, the THS art club is sure to be a staple in the Trinity community for many years to come!
