High School art students took a trip to the Susquehanna Art Museum on Mar. 1 to extend an in-class project. Earlier in the year, Mrs. Leah Keilman, the substitute art teacher for this school year, featured Maureen Joyce and Carrie Breschi with the “I’m Fine” program. These ladies instructed the art students to make clay masks that represented their happy faces, and how they cover up, or ‘mask,’ how they feel inside. These masks could also be a physical representation of how they feel inside, rather than how they mask the bad feelings.
When most people are asked how they are, the first thing they think of saying is “I’m Fine, which is where the title of the program originates. The “I’m Fine” program made its way throughout central Pennsylvania, resulting in over 1,000 clay masks being displayed on the upper floor of the Susquehanna Art Museum. Senior Alexis Gardner says, “It was a great experience [creating her mask and going to see it on display] and I enjoyed expressing myself through art.”
Mrs. Keilman organized this field trip for the students to see the masks from around Pennsylvania. Upon reaching the museum in Midtown, Harrisburg, Rachel Barron, a museum tour guide, took the students on a guided tour of the entire museum. After the tour, students were given time to explore the museum in groups with a chaperone. Some students had a good time, but some thought the museum was lacking details. Maryanna Aldrich remarks, “I think the museum was kind of fun. It would have been better if there was more artwork. I would not go back in my free time.” During the tour and while exploring, the students got the opportunity to view the masks made by other students around Pennsylvania.
Originally, the students were only supposed to go to the museum, but, Mrs. Keilman remarked, “We had time to kill and I knew the bookstore was right around the corner.” The Midtown bookstore was the perfect place to use up the last hour they had until the bus came to pick them up. “The bookstore had so many books to choose from that it was almost overwhelming,” Freshman Anya Scott explained.
The last and final stop the students made before returning to Newport was a location called “Broad Street Market.” This complex includes multiple mini-stores including a bamboo shop, a jewelry store, and a seafood bar. There was even a place where up to four people at a time were able to play Mario Kart on a huge flat-screen TV. Senior Lexi Murphy says, “I liked the complex despite having no money. I would love to go back to buy some Korean food.”
Students boarded the bus at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon and returned to Newport High School just in time for the last period. All in all, everybody enjoyed the field trip for one reason or another, whether it was the museum, the bookstore, or the market.
