InTune with Fine Arts

Published February 19, 2016

The following article was submitted by WCS Fine Arts Specialist Melissa Dufrechou.

I love art shows. Meandering the hallways and streets of school and professional art displays, admiring the hours spent deep in solitary thought, working with intricate details and refining each imperfection into its own form of perfection. Have you ever watched an artist create a painting, blow glass or weave an elaborate pattern? It’s mesmerizing! From the lump of clay on a wheel, the artist brings life to the most delicate of designs. I could stand for hours watching a masterpiece being born from the hands of a skilled artist working with nothing more than color and a blank palette.

Have you ever watched that same artist create work only to have another artist step in and start working on it…and then a third? And then, suddenly someone tells the artist that he needs to turn his canvas upside down and continue the painting? And then a fourth artist takes over and is told he now has to include a new subject in the painting? And then a timer goes off and they have to step away.

This is not your typical art show. This is a Throwdown! Inspired by a program out of Atlanta, several art teachers in Williamson County Schools got together to create the WCS Art Throwdown which will see its third round at the WCS Fine Arts Festival on April 9, thanks to a sponsorship from O’More College of Design. In a live, collaborative and competitive art-making event, artists will pit their artistic prowess and skills against each other and the clock in front of an audience.

Students will compete head-to-head in a fast-paced elimination round as they receive less and less time to sketch each other’s portrait with as much detail and accuracy as possible in as little as 30 seconds! They will also work in teams both simultaneously and in relay to demonstrate gesture drawing and stylistic interpretation. In keeping with the surprises of the day—school teams will create a kinetic sculpture out of… I’m not telling. You and the teams will have to be there to find out! And for the first time in a WCS throwdown, you won’t want to miss the wearable art component. School teams will prepare a piece of wearable art ahead of time to then present them “runway” style.

You don’t want to miss this exciting event from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the Commons Area of the Factory, part of the Third Annual WCS Fine Arts Festival on Saturday, April 9. For more information about the event, sponsoring, volunteering or participating (WCS students grades 6-12) contact Melissa Dufrechou at Melissa.dufrechou@wcs.edu or (615) 472-4000.