Entering door 12 of the high school building, one is immersed in sports memorabilia that lines the hall. To the left is the quiet art hallway that shares a wall with the raging high school gym. While there is a vast amount of trophies and awards for athletics, there are hardly any crafts or artwork shown. However, the art department in Cannon Falls is one that is very impressive. Therefore, the Mosaic Project has been designed to give more recognition to art students.
The art department in Cannon Falls has been going strong for many years. Some of the most noteworthy pieces are created in Independent Art, a class offered for some of Cannon Falls High Schools best artists. However, the program hasn’t been recognized properly throughout the school. That’s why the Lantern advisor and editors have sponsored the Mosaic Project. The goal is to properly acknowledge the art done by several students. A 3 by 5 foot display case was provided by the Cannon Falls Education Foundation, which will exhibit hundreds of drawings, ceramics, and paintings created by multiple artists. Altogether, it will show a 3 by 4 foot picture of a Formula 1 racer, done by Evelyn Nelson, a graduating artist at Cannon Falls. The project will be located inside door 12 of the high school.
Although it hasn’t been appropriately recognized, the art department is well developed. Several students have gone to college to major in art at prestigious schools around the country. There are also several murals downtown and around Cannon Falls that high schoolers in art have contributed to. Multiple pieces created by students are shown at art galleries in Rochester and other cities. Cannon Falls also holds an annual art gallery downtown that holds art from select students in all grades. The goal is to display the many different types of art that are taught and bring attention to these exceptional artists.
Evelyn Nelson has been an art student for many years, and has created many remarkable compositions throughout her career. Being the first artist featured, she expressed “I’m honored truly and I hope I’m the first of many to come.” Regarding the project overall, she stated “I think it was a fun and unique way to showcase students’ art.”
John Fogarty, the advisor of the Lantern and Speech coach for several years, was the major advocate for this project. “We in the Lantern have seen some great recognition given to our sports teams, speech, music, etc,” he stated. “But we don’t often see the wonderful work of our local artists highlighted. That’s why we chose to develop the Mosaic Project.”
The Mosaic Project will display around 375 pieces of artwork to create one, and it is one of the biggest representations of the Cannon Falls art department. Throughout Cannon Falls school history, there have been many extraordinary artists, and current ones are now getting the well deserved reward for their hard work.
