Over the years, art board has given the Westminster community beautiful and creative designs. However, those who were involved with Westminster when it still sat in the Ladue campus remember a time before art board. The predecessor to art board in the big four was known as “hallways” and, as its name suggests, it was an event where each class would completely decorate their hallways with intricate artwork. The basic rules were that on Wednesday night of spirit week they had until ten p.m. to set up after school and on Friday night they had two hours to tear it all down (with the threat of point deductions if done too late).
Mike Rohlfing, an alumni of Westminster, describes his experience with “hallways”:
“Extreme; intense; over the top; had a lot of participation because each class had an entire hallway to decorate. That is not just the walls but floor, ceiling and whatever else you wanted to do[…] I remember walking out of class Friday and having to pause to remember where I was. It was very immersive.”
The “hallways” were in your face and everyone closely experienced them during spirit week. I believe that it is the immersive nature of “hallways” that gathered the enthusiastic participation of so many students. Art board is beautiful and this year they were particularly awe inspiring but they are small and can often feel to the side. For example, the class of 2025 had so many people at art board at lunch this year that not everyone could work at once because there simply was not enough space; a completely opposite the problems of the last couple years during which they struggled with having enough hands on deck.
Furthermore, Gideon Schwamb a student of class of 2025, a leader in art board for the past four years, offers his opinions:
“[With “hallways”] Everyone gets a chance to contribute and see those same contributions which gives positive feedback and encouragement. It also requires people to go all in. There is even more room for creativity as many leaders can take over small areas and see their visions come to life.”
“Hallways” gave students their own massive space. In some ways the increased necessary commitment brings people to the job. Also, as Gideon said, there is only room for a couple of visions on an art board, but “hallways” could be a collection of many different small groups of artists coordinating while still getting to see their personal ideas come to life. However, not only the ringleader artists feel a sense of accomplishment. The monumental task of putting together an entire hallway in one night requires many people and those same people will feel much more connected as they walk around the next two days and see the fruits of their labor.
History is repeating itself as students now put up decorations, although to a lesser degree, in their class hallways. Art board is only a limited version of its predecessor, and it is time to embrace our history and bring back the spectacle of “hallways”. There is every reason to let Westminster students further display their creativity in the grandeur of massive 3D models and unlimited designs.
