Crystal Springs hosts carving contest

HAMBURG — Crystal Springs Resort hosted its 2nd annual Jack-o-lanterncarving contest on Oct. 27. Area high schools were invited to participate.
This year, High Point Regional High School,Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Kittatinny Regional High School, and Sussex County Technical High School returned with reigning champions Wallkill Valley Regional High School which won the grand prize. Best Theme Group Collaboration and People’s Choice Favorite Jack-o-lantern in the contest’s first year.
Once again Wallkill did not disappoint, bringing home the People’s Choice Favorite Jack award and thegrand prize of $1,000 for Best Theme Group Collaboration with its carved interpretation of Pablo Picasso’s1937 masterpiece, Guernica.
“Probably Picasso's most famous work, Guernica is certainly his mostpowerful political statement, painted in 1937 as an immediate reaction to the Nazi's bombing of the Basquetown of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering itinflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status,becoming an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace.”
The art educators of Wallkill Valley Regional High School, Rebekah Marxen, Amy Fairweather andMaryRose Potanka all played vital roles in the project’s development. Marxen, a Pottery and AP Art Historyteacher at Wallkill was tasked with presenting Guernica in such a way that students became enthusiasticabout the theme.
She said, “It’s exciting to see the kids rally around something as meaningful as Picasso’sGuernica . It’s easy for young artists to struggle with accepting abstraction in favor of realism, but when faced with a work so passionately laden with symbolism it’s difficult for them to forget what they’ve learned. Picasso’s work was not only a direct response to the atrocities of war, but also to the swift response of thenews media’s reaction to the tragedy. The original mural is black and white to capture the look of a newspaper. Throughout the week leading up to the event, we used our Instagram account, @wvrhs.art togenerate hype around the project by posting teasers and close-ups of student work and Picasso’s original.The students were fully invested, spending time in the art room after school, with some bringing theirpumpkins back and forth between school and home to put in the most hours possible. We’re proud to leadsuch a dedicated group of artists.”
The workload for WVRHS’s Guernica was evenly distributed amongst the studio level classes, with the exception of the decision for Wallkill student, Caroline Kim to concentrate her efforts on the lifelike portrayal of Pablo Picasso, which sat next to the work along with a framed image of Guernica and a brief synopsis of the project.
Fairweather said, “Caroline is a gifted young artist whose strengths are realistic rendering andportraiture. We knew she was the perfect student for the job.” This decision paid off with a win, as Caroline’s Picasso portrait brought in 26% of votes for the People’s Choice Favorite Jack-o-lantern Award.
Once the pumpkins were complete, a two-piece backdrop resembling cubist forms in Picasso’s paintingwere constructed by the students along with numerous props, including newspaper covered limbs for thepumpkins, a subtle nod to Picasso’s original inspiration.
Marxen said, “This project represents Wallkill Valley Regional High School at its finest, a labor of love andschool-wide team collaboration in its truest form. Everyone pitched in, and we’re so grateful for the support.”