The Woodlands high School Art Trust (TWHSAT)
In 2011, The Woodlands High School created a new art acquisition program. Professional art is chosen by students to be permanently displayed on the walls of The Woodlands High School. The collection exposes students to art throughout each day but will also be used to enrich curriculum in areas such as language arts and social studies. The inspiration for this new program came from the Greater Latrobe Senior High School in western Pennsylvania. Its unique collection of over 200 pieces of art was started over 70 years ago and continues to grow each year. It is a fascinating reflection of the tastes, history and concerns of high school students for the last seven decades. It is a community treasure.
The Woodlands High School Art Trust has been established to organize and maintain this art collection chosen and purchased by the students. The role of this 501 (c)3 Art Trust is to assist the students in selecting artists/works to be considered for the final group of (approximately) 12-15 pieces that the student body will vote on. Each piece of art along with information on each professional artist is presented to the student body. The students vote on their favorite piece thereby giving each student ownership in the selection process. It is hoped that the collection will reflect the tastes and the times of each passing year as pieces are added to the collection. The students use funds from the Homecoming dance to purchase the paintings. The decision on which pieces will be added to the collection will be made from the top five student choices. As the funds are limited, the number of works that are added are based on those that receive the most votes and their price. Many years we have been able to add as many as 5 pieces to our collection, but as the price of the works vary from year-to-year and piece-to-piece, we can only guarantee that we will add a minimum of 2 pieces. TWHSAT asks for donations to cover the cost of conserving, framing and displaying the purchased works (which is often greater than the price of the artwork themselves). For information on donating to our mission, please see our Friends of Art page.
In the past, to achieve the goal of conservation and proper display of the selected pieces, the Art Trust has annually presented “Palettes & Paintings.” On the night of the unveiling of the student selected pieces, 100 wooden artists palettes were offered for silent auction. The palettes were distributed to students, teachers and professionals to be turned into pieces of art. Purchases of the palettes were tax deductible and the proceeds applied to items such as lighting, UV protection and security of the new collection. Donations can also be made directly to the Art Trust to support the program. At this time, we will not be holding a Palettes & Paintings event.
Our thanks will forever go to the Greater Latrobe School District Art Conservation Trust. Inspired by the art collection of his alma mater,
Ray Mt. Joy approached the Greater Latrobe School District in 2010 about the possibility of repeating this vision in The Woodlands. With the support of The Woodlands High School and Conroe Independent School District, Ray and Pam Mt. Joy pursed this dream of starting a student-chosen and student-purchased art collection at The Woodlands High School. Lead by Barbara Nakles, Chairperson of the Art Conservation Trust, and the support of the Greater Latrobe School District, they were instrumental and exceedingly generous in sharing their experience and knowledge of this type of collection. We are sincerely thankful to the visionary Latrobe High School teachers who conceived of such a collection, the Greater Latrobe School District Art Conservation Trust who are preserving the vision and the Mt. Joys who initiated pursuing this dream in The Woodlands.
Although our inspiration came from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, we like to think we honor and complement the vision of George and Cynthia Mitchell and the public art they incorporated into our community. Other than the outdoor sculptures of The Woodlands, our collection of 44 artworks are the only public permanent collection of art in The Woodlands.
Just as The Woodlands outdoor sculptures are a community treasure, we feel our collection is too.
Our collection is viewed by thousands of people every day.
The collection not only exposes students, faculty and visitors to artwork on a daily basis but also strives to enrich curriculum in areas such as language arts and social studies. Over the past year several area elementary schools have brought their students to our school to experience our collection through tours lead by our high school students.
The Woodlands High School Art Trust has been established to organize and maintain this art collection chosen and purchased by the students. The role of this 501 (c)3 Art Trust is to assist the students in selecting artists/works to be considered for the final group of (approximately) 12-15 pieces that the student body will vote on. Each piece of art along with information on each professional artist is presented to the student body. The students vote on their favorite piece thereby giving each student ownership in the selection process. It is hoped that the collection will reflect the tastes and the times of each passing year as pieces are added to the collection. The students use funds from the Homecoming dance to purchase the paintings. The decision on which pieces will be added to the collection will be made from the top five student choices. As the funds are limited, the number of works that are added are based on those that receive the most votes and their price. Many years we have been able to add as many as 5 pieces to our collection, but as the price of the works vary from year-to-year and piece-to-piece, we can only guarantee that we will add a minimum of 2 pieces. TWHSAT asks for donations to cover the cost of conserving, framing and displaying the purchased works (which is often greater than the price of the artwork themselves). For information on donating to our mission, please see our Friends of Art page.
In the past, to achieve the goal of conservation and proper display of the selected pieces, the Art Trust has annually presented “Palettes & Paintings.” On the night of the unveiling of the student selected pieces, 100 wooden artists palettes were offered for silent auction. The palettes were distributed to students, teachers and professionals to be turned into pieces of art. Purchases of the palettes were tax deductible and the proceeds applied to items such as lighting, UV protection and security of the new collection. Donations can also be made directly to the Art Trust to support the program. At this time, we will not be holding a Palettes & Paintings event.
Our thanks will forever go to the Greater Latrobe School District Art Conservation Trust. Inspired by the art collection of his alma mater,
Ray Mt. Joy approached the Greater Latrobe School District in 2010 about the possibility of repeating this vision in The Woodlands. With the support of The Woodlands High School and Conroe Independent School District, Ray and Pam Mt. Joy pursed this dream of starting a student-chosen and student-purchased art collection at The Woodlands High School. Lead by Barbara Nakles, Chairperson of the Art Conservation Trust, and the support of the Greater Latrobe School District, they were instrumental and exceedingly generous in sharing their experience and knowledge of this type of collection. We are sincerely thankful to the visionary Latrobe High School teachers who conceived of such a collection, the Greater Latrobe School District Art Conservation Trust who are preserving the vision and the Mt. Joys who initiated pursuing this dream in The Woodlands.
Although our inspiration came from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, we like to think we honor and complement the vision of George and Cynthia Mitchell and the public art they incorporated into our community. Other than the outdoor sculptures of The Woodlands, our collection of 44 artworks are the only public permanent collection of art in The Woodlands.
Just as The Woodlands outdoor sculptures are a community treasure, we feel our collection is too.
Our collection is viewed by thousands of people every day.
The collection not only exposes students, faculty and visitors to artwork on a daily basis but also strives to enrich curriculum in areas such as language arts and social studies. Over the past year several area elementary schools have brought their students to our school to experience our collection through tours lead by our high school students.