Through Their Eyes: Esperanza Academy Charter High School

Esperanza Academy Charter School is a public school located in North Philadelphia, which educates students in the first through twelfth grades.  The school aims to develop critically thinking, socially capable, spiritually sensitive and culturally aware young adults, while preparing them to further their education at college level. The student body is composed of youth from a variety of backgrounds, but the majority identify as being of Hispanic decent, many of whom are either recent immigrants themselves or second generation. After ninth grade, students choose a “major” from a wide range of choices, including art. Students selecting art as their area of study follow a series of courses starting with Introduction to Art, continuing with Drawing and Painting, Sculpture and possibly finishing with Advanced Placement Art as seniors.

This show features selected works from the high school visual arts majors produced starting in 2018 through the 2019 academic year. It chronicles the growth of students’ technical and conceptual art-making skills as they progress through the high school visual arts major. The show highlights work created in a variety of media, from ceramic ocarinas, charcoal self-portraits, to the mixed-media thesis work of the Advanced Placement art students.