WESTBROOK – Art teachers at Westbrook High School put a new twist on the school’s annual interactive art exhibition this year, by offering prizes to artwork selected as the best by students and faculty at the school last week.

On Thursday and Friday, April 28-29, each of the school’s art classrooms was filled with displays of the students’ work. The projects spilled out into the hallway, too, with eye-catching examples of painting, colored pencils, computer renderings, sculptures, photography and many other art forms and techniques. In all, art teacher Carol Connor said there were about 350 projects on display.

In addition, the classrooms were open for students to come in and watch fellow students working on new art projects. Debbie Bickford, another art teacher at the school, said it was an open-house format, geared toward students who might not have had an interest in art before.

“We wanted it to be less end, and more (about) the process,” she said.

This year, the school offered prizes to the students in the form of gift cards to The Artists Craftsman and Supply, an art supply store in Portland. Students and faculty voted online in various categories, including black and white photo, craft, and computer art.

The cards ranged in value from $25 to a single $100 card for the exhibition’s top honor, “Best In Show.” Bickford said the department got the money unexpectedly after participating, along with its students, in the Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 30 at L. L. Bean in Freeport. The event raised money for Camp Sunshine, a nonprofit group that offers a retreat with activities for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

The carved pumpkins supplied by the art department impressed the charity so much, it donated $500 to the department, Bickford said, prompting her and other art faculty to use the money to help get the students excited about art.

“We wanted to give it back to the kids,” she said.

One of those kids is Kadie Alexander, a senior, who won an award in the computer arts category. She said she likes brightly-colored checkerboards of photographs reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s famous piece on Marilyn Monroe, which she said was a big influence on her.

“His colors are brighter, and I like brighter colors,” she said.

Alexander said she has always had an interest in art, ever since getting a sketch book as a child.

“I just started drawing, and I (said), ‘Wow, I really enjoy this.’”

Alexander, who said she plans to study art after high school, said uses software on her school laptop together with photographs to create unusual effects.

“It shows me a whole other way of learning,” she said. “My brain functions better hands-on than with textbooks in front of me.”

Freshman Brianna Palmer, who produced a still life for the contest, said she has been interested in art “ever since I was little,” and studied art in middle school as well.

“I’m an artist,” she said. “This is what I know.”

Palmer said she appreciated Bickford’s influence in class.

“She’s a great inspiration,” she said.

Angel Simoneau, a junior, created an abstract piece with a surrealist tone. She said the contest was relatively open-ended as to what students could produce for the exhibition, which she liked.

“I just loved the freedom it gave me,” she said.

Simoneau said surrealism is definitely one of her favorite styles.

“Surrealism is just going into another world,” she said.

Her sister, Victoria Simoneau, a sophomore, also created an abstract, spiraling line drawing made with different-colored lines. She agreed with her sister that she liked abstract art.

“It’s not as set in stone, like portraits or regular realism,” she said.

Victoria Simoneau said she will continue to study art, both in high school and beyond.

“I’ve always seen art in my future,” she said.

Junior Jenn Jensen showed off illustrations she made to accompany a short story she is writing.

“It’s another way for me to tell stories and create characters,”she said.

Jensen said she likes the idea of bringing two different art forms, such as drawing and writing, in this case, together in one medium. She said she is also interested in music and other forms of expression.

“There are so many different ways of telling stories,” she said. “I want to try them all.”

Junior Angel Simoneau talks about her award-winning abstract art. (Staff photo by Sean Murphy)