Farmingdale High School Artists Create Dramatic Self Portraits

As part of its robust arts curriculum, the Farmingdale School District recently welcomed renowned artist Edgar Jerins to Farmingdale High School to lead a collaborative lesson with Farmingdale High School art teacher Regina Nicholas featuring realistic self-portraits. Students in the Drawing and Painting and Advanced Placement Art classes learned the tradition of self-portraiture dating back to the Renaissance. Classical use of compositional techniques guided the students while they drew their self-portraits in charcoal. The drawings were then layered with shellac and completed with oil paint. The collaboration between professional artist, high school art teacher and students was a huge success and resulted in portraits students can include in their college portfolios.

Edgar Jerins is a classically trained artist, and currently teaches at the New York Academy of Art. His work is exhibited in several museums across the country and Europe. Funding for this initiative was provided by Farmingdale School District Fine Arts Director Ms. Rita Padden and the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services Arts in Education.

This program is part of an ongoing Farmingdale School District initiative to connect students with successful professionals and mentors to help them pursue their creative ambitions. For more information about the Farmingdale School District and its exciting programs throughout the year, visit the District’s website www.farmingdaleschools.org.

Photo 1: (L-R) Farmingdale High School students show the portraits they created as part of a recent Farmingdale School District program in which students collaborated with a professional artist to create college-level work.

Front Row: Mickenzie Ghibaudi, Alyana Camisa

Back Row: Ashley Burbano, Edgar Jerins, Andrew DiVittorio, Carly Monteagudo, Ms. Regina Nicholas

Photo 2: Self portrait by Farmingdale High School student Carly Monteagudo. Students created portraits they created as part of a recent Farmingdale School District program in which students collaborated with a professional artist to create college-level work.