Bronxville Women’s Club Transforms Into a Museum to Display Student Art

Heather Bothwell, a high school senior whose artwork is on display at the Bronxville Women’s Club, wanted to bring the spirit of Tanzania alive through her art. Bothwell was inspired by a trip to Tanzania, where she worked in an orphanage at a school for three weeks.

“I wanted people to actually understand my experience without physically going there,” Bothwell said. “I expressed that feeling through the colors I used.  By using pastels as my medium of choice, I was able to express the vibrancy of Tanzania, movement, and emotion of the people.”

Bothwell is one of 12 Bronxville High School art AP students with work on display at the Bronxville Arts Expo, hosted by the Women’s Club on Midland Avenue. The work of other high school art students is also on display at the Expo, which runs through June 11.

Dozens of people attended the opening night of the exhibit, browsing students’ work and snacking on hor dourves.  Designed in 1927, the building that houses the Women’s Club has many playful architectural details of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles, a perfect complement to the students’ artwork.

"The students were so excited to see their work in such a festive yet professional setting.  They were proud of a year's worth of hard work and happy to celebrate with entire community," said AP art teacher Joanne Dalsimer.

The headlining students found inspiration for their art in all different places. Inspired by a book he found, Julian Bardin’s project made viewers look at the neck in a different way.

“I saw a book with a model extending her neck and she had a fantastic really long muscular neck and the pose that it was really inspired me.  I began to see all of the shadows and different way the neck can transform just by adding fabric, or items around it,” Bardin said.

The students didn’t stick to just one medium. Katie Kuhns’ work used fabric to invoke a wedding theme.

"I used pencil to portray a common element of classic wedding looks—black and white. Many of the works on display have a light blue background to go with the ‘something blue’ wedding motif,” Kuhns said.

The AP art students put many long hours into creating their art, but the finished product is usually worth it. Lara Florek’s work called “Evidence of the Wearer” was inspired by detailing what type of person someone is by their shoes.

“My favorite piece is the boat shoes. That’s only because it’s small and one of my more detailed pieces, it didn’t take as long.” Florek said that it’s hard to tell how long a work will take to complete. “Sometimes when I thought I needed two hours, it probably took close to four or six.”

The Art Expo runs at the Bronxville Women's Club until June 11. Click here for more details.