In light of recent events, THS art students are getting their hands dirty and making pop art portraits of Emma Gonzalez, in order to strengthen our local connection to the #ENOUGH Movement. We caught up with Mr. Knepper and asked him a few questions about this project, here’s what he had to say:

Q: What inspired you to make pop art of Emma Gonzalez?

A: I was really inspired by the youth march in Washington DC and I had spoken to some students that had gone and we thought it would be a cool way to add some momentum locally to what’s going on. Hopefully by putting a face to this we can get people to stop and think. Emma Gonzalez is one of the very vocal faces in the movement and she had a very moving and passionate speech for youth all across America, so I thought that capturing her image would be very powerful.

Q: What is the process that you have to go through in order to mass produce the same image?

A: Well we plan on making around 20 0f these and hanging them in the windows in the art hallway so that those who don’t really know her will wonder who she is and what this is for and for those that know her we hope that they are moved by this. So throughout all of my classes we’re doing this as a side project. In doing this, I will make the template and they just have to follow it and add colors to it. This makes it low risk and easy to mass produce.

Q: Have you heard any opinions on this project yet?

A: Yes, Mr. Berry has expressed his excitement about this project. He thinks it’s a good idea to have a young person such as Emma representing the youth and the movement. He thinks it strengthens the connection that many in this school have with the movement.

Q: When can we expect to see this completed?

A: With how fast we’re making them, I would say in a few weeks.

As you can see, the students did an impressive job and the display is both colorful and inspirational. If you want to see it in person, it’s in the upper floor A hallway (A-210 to be exact).