In February, Senior Michelle Foster created an art challenge as an International Baccalaureate Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) project, which is a long-term project required for the IB Diploma.

“It wasn’t a contest,” said Foster. “It was an opportunity to showcase art in the community that anybody could contribute to.”

The only guideline was that each piece of art had to relate to a word: secret. How they tied their work to that concept was entirely up to them. Foster wanted to make sure the theme was “broad but interesting.”

As Foster will graduate this spring, the future of this challenge is uncertain. She said perhaps she will pass it on as “a senior will,” which is an annual tradition where the graduating seniors gift titles or responsibilities to the classes below them, or perhaps she will “suggest it to an underclassman.” 

Below are the entries and artist statements.

Chris Lai

“I think this [piece] sits well with the theme ‘secret’ since most parts of the girl are covered by clothing and masks, and there is a lock to resemble something hidden.”

Sofia Guerra

“An introduction of a character and a conflict defined by a destructive secret.”

Emil Haedt

“The smoke coming out of her eye is a symbol of the secrets that are kept inside her head that are wanting to leak out. Secrets don’t have to be dark or have a negative connotation. That’s why the smoke is colorful, to show that secrets can be interesting and lighthearted too. Secrets are really just anything you choose not to share and for some that is more than others.”

Doris Zhu

“I have always considered the narrow and quiet pathway near my house secret and sacred. You can always perceive the atmosphere of loneliness.”

Merryn Coumou

“Mental Hospitals have lots of secrets. I live next to one, and I wanted to illustrate the strange nature of these morose buildings. I have had numerous dreams where I wake up in a padded room with a yellow tiled floor. There is a strange hole in the wall with hundreds of arrows painted into the hole. ‘I dare you’ and ‘double dare you’ is painted along the padded walls. Calm crimson eyes peer back at me from within. It isn’t scary, and the sensation of being somewhat alone in this silent room calms me.”

Cora Shandrow

“In this piece there is something untold happening, who or what was at the table. The lack of knowing for the viewer is almost like a secret isn’t being told to them, leaving the viewer in the dark without knowing the secret.”

Cindy Li

“He knows all of your secrets!”

Jillian Eliel

“By using fabrics of different color themes and patterns, I created the shape of a key hole, possibly the most known sign for a secret.”