Wilson school turns to virtual art tour during pandemic

Instead of skipping their student art installation completely, the Sallie B. School of Arts and Science in Wilson used their creativity to find a virtual solution.

"We were almost 3 weeks away from our premiere," said Carrie Nobles, the school’s visual arts teacher.

Nobles said the school’s "Art Speaks" gala was something that close to 200 art students had been working on and looking forward to for months.

The plan was to invite all students, families and friends to see the students’ artwork hanging on hallway walls at the school.

"We came up with a really awesome way to exhibit our students’ work," she said.

Instead, the artwork was displayed on "virtual" walls in a computer generated re-creation of the school’s hallways. The experience was produced by the school’s multimedia teacher David Ernesto Ponce Parada.

"He ‘s very talented and he came up with this animation of our school," said Nobles. "He was able to plug in all of the students’ art work on the walls just like it was the real live art gala."

The full animated tour will premiere Monday evening on the school’s social media platforms, including YouTube.

According to Nobles, the show provides "Art Speaks" with a voice that is personal to each student involved in the project.

"It’s a real awesome night for the kids to feel proud of all of the hard work that they’ve put in and see the things that they actually care about and are passionate about," Nobles said.

The Sallie B. School of Arts and Science is a charter school for elementary through middle school students, but this fall it will open a new high school which will offer a more advanced arts curriculum.