On Wednesday, the exhibit honoring the Office of the President of the United States opened in the Walkway gallery.

According to art teacher Ms. Jenna Lynch, she “planned this show in the summertime because [she] thought it would be really great, in an election year, for people to think about the Office of the President because the election was so contentious and sometimes we forget the historical precedence.”

Art survey students were asked to paint a president who inspired them, or one they wanted to know more about. The class’s goal was “to have at least two of every person, and then [they] decided, why not have the two dominant candidates, so [they] included Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, so we have them represented in the show,” according to Ms. Lynch.

Since Ms. Lynch wanted the students to work off pictures as opposed to paintings, all of the presidents are from 1839 up to the present day. Ms. Lynch also noted that “the drawing class and the painting class were asked to do the same thing, so we have some repetitions because people were interested in the same people,” and that “the sculpture class was tasked with making a life size ceramic portrait of their president.”

Separating the pictures of the presidents are the Oath of Office, and the Preamble to the Constitution in red, white and blue. Ms Lynch said that this was to remind people that “the president is swearing to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, so therefore the preamble to the constitution is important.”

The main purpose of this exhibit is to spark up conversations that hopefully carry over to the dining hall or history class, where students and teachers alike can evaluate how well the president served their duty in preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution. As Ms. Lynch said, “art is a means of enticing and cultivating really good conversation.”

The exhibit features some pieces that have been submitted for the Scholastic Art Competition for 2016 as well as some pieces that will be submitted for 2017. The Presidential Exhibit will be open until late February, when it will be replaced with Mandala Paintings.