BELLA CHEN ’29
As a Prep taking Studio Art, I was surprised when I had my first Art Salon—both by the experience of sharing my work with others and the insight that viewing my peers’ work offered me. The experience allowed me to develop the critical skill of presenting in front of others and gave me the opportunity to explore my own creative process with more awareness. The excitement as we looked through everyone’s projects was a welcome change of mood and breath of fresh air from the week of stressful sit-down exams.
One of the biggest strengths of these salons is how effectively they showcase student work. Students are not simply turning in a piece of art to their teacher; instead, they are explaining their methodology to their peers. Because students from different art disciplines share their work, it helps others to find connections between and learn about different styles, mediums, and periods of art.
As they understand more about other art forms, students gain the ability to ask insightful questions and experience critiquing and presenting work. In doing so, they gain a better understanding of the creative process. In addition, the nature of these salons forces students to practice presenting and performing—invaluable life skills.
This year, Preps had a total of five sit-down exams, culminating in 10 hours of tests. The Salons were a welcome relief from a stressful environment, and despite the Salons being graded as midterm exams, the atmosphere was lighthearted.
ARYA SAMAT ’29
Although I understand the appeal behind hosting salon for Preps and Lower Mids, I believe that it is not the best way to do final exams in the arts. I completed my first salon this Midterms season, and while the event lasted a total of two hours, only 20 minutes were allocated toward the actual graded final for any given student.
Due to the length of the Salon, it was easy for students to zone out and pay less attention as time went on, leading to less constructive criticism while others were presenting their work, and fewer comments on areas where the person performing can improve. Rather than an arts showcase, it felt like one last obligation standing between us and winter break.
In general, salons focus on the wrong things. Arts students are usually not expecting to be graded on their presentation skills, as they mostly focus on the quality of the presented work itself. Before my salon, many classes only had a few lessons to work on the actual presentation, and being graded on that aspect instead of solely on the work itself was nerve-wracking for students who had rarely presented their work in front of many people.
Many students who are first-time music students or beginner artists have never presented their work publically before. Seeing much more advanced artists present might make them feel inferior and nervous. Mistakes in a presentation can often come from stage fright in the moment, which is hard to combat and unfairly affects students’ grades.
