As a current high school student, I know first hand how often the arts are ignored when it comes to teenagers. That’s why I was so excited to attend the Monmouth Teen Arts Festival this past Thursday. It was such an amazing opportunity to see other students’ artwork of all kinds.

As I wandered around the campus of Brookdale, something that I noticed right away was that there was always something going on. Even though it was an overcast and chilly day, everyone was in high spirits, and they were always creating. If you happened to glance over at the sidewalk in front of the Performing Arts Center, you could see a beautiful chalk drawing, blooming on the concrete. Outside the cafeteria, people were singing and dancing. No matter where you went in the Center for Visual Arts, student artwork was on display, and cheerful voices from the various classrooms seeped into the hallways.

Messy (and fun) student artwork

Because of this creativity, I was able to witness some incredible things during my day. At one point, I happened to stroll in on two girls performing a duet. Forget the artists you heard on your radio this morning, these girls could actually sing. Before then, I’d never known that such talent existed in the students—people my age!—around me. What’s more, following their performance, they were given a critique, allowing them to improve.

The theme this year was "Identity"

All the artwork hung in the hallways was incredible, but the artwork in the Identity gallery was positively breathtaking. The display included giant portraits that were taller than me and ingenious sculptures, among other things. It was amazing how everyone took the theme of identity and made it into something that was so clearly their own, and in a beautiful and expressive way.

It upsets me greatly that I’m graduating this year and won’t ever be able to again attend this event as a fellow student. However, the memory of seeing such inspiring work from such young artists will always remain with me. I’m so happy that this event exists, and hope that it will continue strongly in the future!

Sam Peterson 
Senior, Communication High School