‘We all come from somewhere’

Loved ones will stay close to the heart long after they may pass. Honoring them can be an emotional process. In a collective exhibit combining the works of Creston students, this shared experience becomes infinitely stronger.

An expansive exhibit showing projects created by Creston middle and high school students is available for viewing at the Creston Arts Depot Gallery. Students used the opportunity to honor their loved ones and ancestors while learning about traditions from Los Angeles, Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The annual exhibit features works by students from across the Creston Community School District, from fifth graders to graduating seniors. Led by a team of teachers comprised of Bailey Fry-Schnormeier, Sara King and Martha Wisse, students collaborated to make an exhibit which completely covers the walls of the gallery.

After taking a hiatus last year, the collection, titled “Honoring Our Heritage: A Celebration of Connection and Memory,” returns to the gallery. Portraits, kites, banners, decorative skulls, collages and a shrine are all dedicated to loved ones who will be dearly missed and remembered forever.

“When we start this project, a lot of the students will say, ‘I don’t know anybody who has passed,’” Fry-Schnormeier said. “I tell them we all come from somewhere. It’s an opportunity to go home and have those conversations.”

Friday’s opening reception marked a special moment for these students, as their families travel through the exhibit. Parents had the chance to see the projects their children created to honor close ones. As generations connect together, memories are preserved.

Despite the collective project, each individual piece is unique to the student who created it. Taking inspiration from how different cultures honor their loved ones who had passed, each piece incorporates something unique from each student as they honor someone close to them.

Fry-Schnormeier, who helped contribute to this year’s gallery in pieces honoring her father and grandmother who had passed the previous year, said this gallery helps students process at a deeper, emotional level.

“It’s an important part of creating, for the students to express themselves,” Fry-Schnormeier said. “Sometimes that’s through joy and excitement and other times looking back at something that might be a little difficult as well. It feels great to see the kids be able to create something that is so unique and special to them and their families.”

Outside of the pieces they made through their classwork, students also contributed to the exhibit through other decorations and small cookies offered to guests during Friday’s opening reception. Marigolds were donated by Greens N’ Things.

Creston student Olivia May Coenen honored her grandparents in two pieces in the gallery.

“Me and my family would go to family reunions around Christmastime and celebrate,” Coenen said. “Ever since [my grandparents] passed, it’s been a little weird because I grew up doing those things all the time.”

Incorporating her grandparents in one piece, Coenen talked with family members to find as many features to incorporate into a piece with an ornate frame. Small silos and a design which resemble a barn form memories of her grandparents’ farm. The colors of the piece resemble the flowers in their garden.

“You can see all the other pieces and see what people incorporate with theirs, and it creates a very personal story in each one,” Coenen said. “You put a little bit of yourself in each piece, and you can tell with these.”

“Honoring Our Heritage: A Celebration of Connection and Memory” will be available throughout the month of November. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.