On the evening of April 13, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) was packed with teenagers. They were there to experience SAM’s twice-a-year Teen Night Out, which featured a fine-art gallery of student work, as well as activities playing off the current exhibit, “Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise.”
The event served as the official opening of the “Naramore 2012 Middle & High School Art Show,” which features the artwork of students from Seattle middle and high schools. The exhibition is named after Seattle Public Schools architect Floyd J. Naramore, who, according the museum website, “from 1919 to 1941, designed over 22 schools.”
The Naramore gallery displayed hundreds of works of art, including sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, paintings, drawings, photography and multimedia.
In keeping with the Polynesian theme, the event was kicked off by Te’a Rama, a Tahitian dance and drumming group, which performed a traditional welcome dance.
Students and parents also got to view the Gauguin exhibit. Visitors could also create personalized leis, take a Polynesian dance class, design and make tiki-style masks or get decorated with henna and airbrushed Tahitian tattoos.
The evening’s soundtrack featured DJ J-Justice, who mixed up traditional pop remixes with world music and some oldies. And serious audiophiles could listen to vinyl records provided by DJ OC Notes.
To complete the trinity of creativity, students from the school district’s Writers in the Schools program read their original poetry inspired by the “Gauguin & Polynesia” exhibit.
The Naramore Art Show is on display through May 27; entry is free. For more information, visit www.seattleartmuseum.com.