Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
On display: CSD art show ‘Shaping New Perspectives’ to open in April
When organizers scheduled Colonial School District’s 2020 student art show for March 20, they — like most — had no idea a pandemic would close the annual exhibit mere days before its opening, much less delay the next one for two years. The theme for 2020 was “Creating a Difference” although no one imagined just how different the circumstances that blocked the event would be.
Fast forward to CSD’s 2022 art show, set to open at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School April 26 and titled “Shaping New Perspectives.” Work by kindergarteners through fifth graders will be highlighted from 6 to 7 p.m.; work by sixth through 12th-graders, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The latter will include visuals created by PW art majors…a number of them, members of the National
Art Honor Society. The local NAHS chapter was established by teacher Candance Maggioncalda in 2004, and Maggioncalda has served as the group’s sponsor ever since. During a recent induction ceremony, she welcomed 35 students to its ranks. This year’s officers are President Paige Daufenbach, Vice President Emily Spause, Secretary Sophia Delone, Treasurer Genevieve Tone and Coordinators Liberty Daddona and Margaret Tomassetti.
PW alum Kristen Greenawalt was the event’s guest speaker. Greenawalt teaches art at neighboring Springfield Township High School and The Artist’s Loft in Conshohocken. Her murals are on display at Conshohocken Free Library and Flanagan’s Preschool, now Cadence Academy.
“The art department at PW gave me the best foundation for growing my love for the visual arts,” Greenawalt told listeners. “Each teacher fueled a passion for
art in me and inspired me to continue providing that fuel for others via teaching. Serving as the NAHS copresident for its first year (at PW) in 2005 encouraged me to see my strength in leading others, my ability to speak publicly as well as the power of art in communities. This gave me the courage to move forward with my drive to teach art.”
Current President Daufenbach, a PW senior, echoes those sentiments.
“I’ve been a part of National Art Honor Society since I was a freshman, and it’s helped me to see more of the value in art and the joy it can bring to a community,” Daufenbach says. “I admire how it takes people’s creativity and want to help others, then combines
the two. As an officer, I feel honored to have been taking a leading role in this.”
Community outreach is one of NAHS’s core tenets, and Vice President Spause believes such projects are a highpoint of membership — “making art for other people…from helping out with Halloween decorations with kids to donating art supplies to hospitals” and painting the “kindness rocks” and peace signs the students placed around the high school’s grounds.
“I love how I get to make a simple painted rock that can make just one person’s day the slightest bit better,” Spause adds.
The 2022 NAHS induction also kicked off PW’s annual alumni art show. This year’s exhibitors are Candace Deyoc, Fiona Dow, Mollie Hamaday, Lia Khatchadourian, Autumn Loughery, Jules Victor, Kara Wilson and Rachel Wisnewski.
April’s district-wide art show will take place in PW’s on-campus EDI wing and LGI space at 201 E. Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting. Participants attend one of CSD’s seven schools in Conshohocken, Plymouth and Whitemarsh. Additional information is available at www.colonialsd.org.