Art rocks at the Warwick Valley School District

The Warwick Valley School District Art Department and Warwick Art Club Booster sponsored the 10th annual integrated K-12 "Art Rocks" art show and Chair Auction in the High School on May 10.
The art show began at 5 p.m., followed by the fifth annual Newspaper Dress Fashion Show, created by the highly talented Fashion Design students.
The district wide art show was comprised of a variety of mediums and artwork from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Visually stimulating
Intricate paintings and drawings, gorgeous 3D sculpture, thought-provoking photography, functional and imaginative ceramics/pottery and large-scale collaged portraits were among the artwork found at this year’s show.
It was astounding to see the progression of artwork from students just starting out and creating art in kindergarten to those students involved in our Portfolio classes who will be pursuing art as a career/major in the near future.
A visual treat for the eyes, student artwork was located throughout the main lobby, old gym, north cafe and adjoining hallways.
Spirited bidding
The Chair Auction began at 7 p.m., and like many other auctions over the last ten years, there was quite a bit of spirited bidding.
In September 2008, what began with a few old chairs, an idea about creating a way to raise money for art students in the form of scholarships and the concept of a culminating art show for our high school art students has been gradually transformed into a very full evening, highlighting many of our creative and talented students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Annually on the second Friday in May, the school district unveils the K-12 Art Show, a Newspaper Dress Fashion Show, the Steam Fair and the highlight of the evening, the Chair Auction. It is a visually stimulating and intellectually amazing evening.
Chair auction students work for several months to transform an ordinary chair into a work of art. All proceeds from the chair auction go to graduating seniors in the form of art scholarships.
The junior and senior portfolio class and a few other juniors and seniors as well as art department faculty members participated in the event this year, with various art faculty creating bird houses out of both wood and clay.
(Going to Baird’s Tavern in town? Check out Rocco Manno’s “Bird’s Tavern” on display at Baird’s Tavern.)
$1,530 bid for one chair
This year the bidding for some chairs began at $30, while others had starting silent bids of more than $300.
Competition was fierce for a few of the chairs with multiple people bidding enthusiastically. Art Department Kristin Spano’s chair went for $1,530, the most money a chair has ever garnered.
Other chairs went for upwards of $600. It was a winning and wonderful night for all concerned; the 2019 Chair Auction raised more than $5,300 for art students.