Hoover High Art Class Reflects on Artwork Through Journaling

It wasn’t unusual for the students’ self-portraits in Chris Triner’s art class to look a little, well, trashy.

Spanish homework canvasses the cheek of junior Alex Smith. Text washes over sophomore Arianna Horton’s face. And a newspaper clipping of a drug raid covers sophomore Hannah Cowie’s left eyebrow.

Incorporating that everyday trash into their artwork helped the students learn that art isn’t a one-step activity, but a process, said Chris Triner, art teacher at and district art department chair for North Canton City Schools.

Other projects for that class this year focused on journaling, or writing and looking at their artwork in a new and mindful way. The students also wrote poems to go along with those self-portraits.

“I was trying to show the students that artists don’t just paint and draw and do all the things we think they do, but they also reflect on their artwork," Triner said.

Triner’s class used a $500 grant from ArtsinStark, a non-profit organization that serves as the County Arts Council.

The grant went toward purchasing a camera to photograph the artwork and covering a visit from Clare Murray Adams, an artist and Malone University professor who shared her journaling experiences with the students.

Murray Adams’ journals covered everything from artwork to everyday life to her vacations. Triner said hearing from her helped clarify what the journaling experience should look like and accomplish.

Students also constructed chapbooks, or pocket-sized books of writings and illustrations that could be kept or given to others as gifts.

“It basically just encapsulates a moment in time,” Triner said. “But again, it got the kids writing.”

Triner said he hopes to continue incorporating writing into his classes in new ways in the future.