PORT TOWNSEND — It’s a story, a sculpture and a vision: Each Student Wearable Art Show piece, teacher Margie McDonald said, is the finish line on an adventure.
Youngsters ages 10 to 17 have been working with papier-maché, wire, cardboard, fabrics and grit over many weeks now, preparing for Saturday’s event. The annual Student Wearable Art Show, after selling out in past years at Key City Public Theatre, will move to a bigger venue. The Port Townsend High School auditorium, 1500 Van Ness St., will be the place for performances at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Tickets are on sale at KCPT.co/wearable and at the door for a suggested $20 for those 19 and older, while students 18 and younger will be admitted free.
“This is our big fundraiser for PT Artscape,” McDonald said of the nonprofit organization that funds teaching artists in local classrooms.
Eponine Bertucci-Kenyon, 12, of Quilcene will make her Wearable Art Show debut Saturday with a piece involving a dress and a pair of large hands.
“So many things” about this process are fun, Bertucci-Kenyon said. At the top of the list: working with professional artists who “are super good at everything.”
Collaborating on her art piece has proved to be the most rewarding part, she added, standing beside pro artist and longtime wearable-art mentor Michele Soderstrom.
Quilcene performing arts teacher Camille Hildebrandt is another mentor who has encouraged her students to embark on wearable projects. Over the years, she has admired youngsters who dream up a piece and then use recycled materials to turn it into reality.
“These kids have wild imaginations,” Hildebrandt said.
She didn’t go into detail about her students’ pieces. The element of surprise is an important part of Saturday’s performances, the teacher said.
“I believe in student-led inquiry,” Hildebrandt added, meaning the youngsters dive into something that interests them, and then learn how to craft, sew and build a work of art.
Each piece is an original, an integration of the student’s personal story. Up on stage, Hildebrandt said, the wearer of the piece gives a performance, showing the art to others who may have experienced a similar story or know someone who has.
In this process — free of electronic devices and social media — students “are really developing their creative voice,” she said. Making art, becoming an artist, Hildebrandt said, is “opening a door they’ve never walked through before.”
This year, both performances feature two short slide presentations: one about past Student Wearable Art Shows and one depicting the making of this year’s creations. And, as always, a panel of judges will bestow prizes: $150 for first place, $100 for second, $75 for third plus two $50 judges’ choice awards.
Local artists Bonnie Obremski and Charlie Van Gilder will serve as the show’s judges.
McDonald, who, along with her team of teaching artists, has helped scores of students during the past decade, is buoyed by the transformation that happens.
“The students gain so much onstage and backstage,” she said.
To create their pieces, the young people solve a series of problems. Once they envision the art, they must figure out how to make things fit together, stay together and convey a message.
“Once they do this,” McDonald said, “they walk away with confidence.”
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Diane Urbani de la Paz is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Port Townsend.
