Mask Benefit

Torie Wolf, Staff Writer|April 29, 2019

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The mask created by Rocky senior Caleb Schmitz.

The Mask Benefit is going on in the Museum of Art in Old Town and this year Rocky has three students and one teacher being highlighted in the exhibit.

 

The Mask Benefit is a way for the museum to raise money as well as highlight a diverse collection of artist from the Fort Collins community. This year over 200 artists have participated by creating a mask and donating it to the museum. Each mask then goes into a silent auction for the rest of the community to bid on.  

 

Each year, the Art Department at Rocky selects three exceptional senior artists to participate in this 16-year-old tradition. This year seniors Kelly Justice, Levi Jaquez, and Caleb Schmitz were selected.

Caleb explained his reaction by saying, “I remember this sense of honor coming over me. I just was so excited and surprised that my art teachers thought I was good enough to create a mask that others would want to buy and something that would show the community a part of the Rocky Art Department.”

 

Levi said  that his mask titled Headspace was inspired be a previous painting he had done.

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“I have chromesthesia, meaning when I am painting I will listen to a song over and over again and am able to associate colors with the music. And after I created my painting and fold out, I was given a mask. I knew I wanted to recreate that painting in a more 3-D approach.”

— Levi Jaquez

Caleb titled his mask Verdant and said, “My mask is based off nature and the more organic things in life.” He  went on to say he too is inspired by music and the song that helped breath life into his mask was “Grow by the Wind.”  

 

Rocky art teacher Mrs. Wolf also participated in the exhibit this year. Her mask is titled Honey Bee and she was inspired by a poem that she ran across on Pinterest by the same title not to mention, her name, Melisa, in Greek means honey.

Check out the exhibit at the Museum of Art in Old Town (by Ace Hardware) by May 3rd. That is also the first Friday of the month so the exhibit, along with others in old town is FREE. Know there is no excuse on not going to support the Rocky artists and the local art community.