CHARLOTTE — Looking for ways to show off students’ work this school year, an Our Lady of the Assumption School teacher turned to digital platforms to host the school’s first ever Virtual Art Show.
Rachael Wilken, art and computer teacher at the Charlotte school, found very unique ways to display students’ artwork for their usual end-of-the-year show.
Wilken, who is finishing her fourth year teaching at OLA, has created an art show for each of the past three years.
“My very first year at OLA was my first year teaching. I was brand new, out of college, and I didn’t have anything planned to celebrate the kids,” she said. “The second year, I made a huge deal about showcasing their work throughout the year, and we had an art show with themed snacks. It was all rainbows and adorable. The second show, last year, was even bigger.”
This year, Wilken said, she had decided to show all of the students’ artwork throughout the year. She was collecting artwork, labeling the pieces and getting them ready to show when schools were closed to in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was thinking, ‘How can I share all this great work with the students’ families?’” Wilken said. “Since we weren’t allowed to use the school building, I reached out to a couple places looking for warehouse space to hang everything. I found The Refinery in Charlotte, and they let me use an unfinished space to hang everything and create the virtual art gallery.”
In one day, she set up all the students’ work, took pictures and video, and then took it all down.
Wilken made a video highlighting the students’ projects and posted it to YouTube. She also added photos of the artwork to Google photos and even uploaded images to Google Maps. From the streetview, it allows for an interactive experience – as though you are walking through the halls filled with the year’s creativity.
Wilken said she knew the students were excited to share their art with their families, and it’s hard for them to understand what’s happening and why the school year ended the way it did.
“As life-long learners, we know that with new challenges, we find new solutions,” she said. “It’s something little I thought would lift the students’ spirits.”
And lift spirits it did – and not just the students, either. Parents flooded Wilken with positive emails, rejoicing that they were able to see their children’s work and share it with family and friends who don’t live in the Charlotte area as well.
— Kimberly Bender, Online reporter
More online
See the virtual room experience: https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/103618954204633669820/
More photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wYiQw2P3b4kXrsYa9