Paper was strewn across the floor and glitter covered every inch of Art Club sponsor Wendy Vertacnik’s room as club members prepared decorations for winter formal. While they worked to create a kingdom, members snacked on popcorn and engaged in occasional sword fights.
Amidst the jovial mayhem and sparkles, Art Club president senior Isabella Waite organized club members into a makeshift assembly line as the club set out out to make The Chronicles of Narnia-themed decorations for the dance.
No lion, no witch and no wardrobe — at least as a form of transportation. However, despite three snow days cutting days out of their prep time, Art Club students worked to finish the decorations that would transform the rotunda into the kingdom from the film, minus the talking animals.
The current Student Council representative in Art Club, senior Panyin Boye-Doe initially suggested the club collaborate with StuCo to create decorations for the dance.
“Abbey [Berland, student body president] asked me to draw something for [the formal decorations], and I just came up with the idea of having the Art Club help with it,” Boye-Doe said.
A month prior to the dance, Art Club officers began planning how they would incorporate the Narnia theme artistically.
“There was a lot of planning that went into it,” Waite said. “We set up meetings originally to come up with ideas of what we should incorporate. And once we brainstormed general ideas, we got more specific. In the end, Vertacnik’s floor [was] just a big mess.”
The officers decided to to match both the dance theme and the outdoors on the day of the dance as they created snowflakes and icicles to transport students to Narnia.
“Because the theme is Narnia this year, we created icicles and we’re creating 3-D snowflakes as well,” Waite said. “Obviously [we made] a Narnia sign, and then StuCo will be creating a wardrobe to walk through.”
Senior Meredith Johnson worked to create thrones much like Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy sat upon in the film.
“I’m making these thrones for the [winter court] king and queen based off of the actual ones in the movie,” Johnson said. “So I have a lot of Styrofoam, a lot of wire and a chair.”
Vertacnik was also influential in helping to create the atmosphere of the kingdom in the movie.
“I helped them come up with the blue paste paper that is like a glue and paint mixture that allowed the silver sparkles to stick and also give the white paper of the icicles some pizzaz,” Vertacnik said. “I donated two chairs that I had rescued from the trash when Mr. Rickabaugh got new chairs. I knew they would work well for my Drawing 2 chair project or be painted, so this is equally great.”
Johnson hoped the decorations at the dance would ignite sparks of artistic talent and passion within the underclassmen.
“I just hope in the long run people will use art club for more,” Johnson said. “I hope they get involved. Because we’re all seniors, when we’re gone, there will still be sophomores and juniors who will join and form a bigger community. I hope that it will get people thinking about Art Club.”
However, Vertacnik was simply happy to see the leadership and teamwork within the existing club.
“I think it’s a great idea to get more students involved and taking ownership, and it may encourage some students who would not attend to make the effort to be there,” Vertacnik said.
Although StuCo and Art Club members were unable to open up the magical wardrobe and transport students to the snowy scene by the glowing lightbulb, they hoped to provide dance-goers with a pleasant experience in a subtle winter wonderland.
“In the end, I don’t need it to be extremely elaborate,” Waite said. “I just need people to acknowledge there were decorations and they were something that aided the experience. Obviously we’re not completely transporting them to Narnia. That’s impossible, but having a little glimpse so they can remember the theme and see what’s goi
