Student art showcased at Coffee House event

A caffeinated collage of students, teachers and guests gathered Wednesday night for the 16th annual Coffee House event at the Sisters High School commons, benefitting the full spectrum of vital school arts programs.

Seated in Adirondack chairs, guests were treated to a rich menu of musical performances by the Sisters High School Jazz Choir, the Jazz Combo and Americana Project kids, while families and friends enjoyed cookies and java, roaming amid the many student art exhibits, displays and demonstrations.

Various stations and tables allowed arts supporters and creative friends to express their inner artist and play with a spinning potter's wheel, make their own glazed clay holiday ornament, sit for a hand-painted henna tattoo or fun cheek decoration and finger-paint a messy masterpiece. Silent-auction tables were brimming with donated items from community members and local businesses with proceeds from the winning bids all going toward the arts.

The Americana Woods 1 and 2 classes set up a display sharing their instrument creations with the crowd, bringing wood lathes and finished six-string guitars and ukuleles.

Instructor Bill MacDonald answered questions and explained the process covered in their class to interested listeners.

"It's pretty amazing what these kids can accomplish," he said. "I've been with the program for six years, and every year the guitars get better. It's very enjoyable and rewarding to see a student walk out of class with a guitar in his or her hands. I like to do top-end work with koa, myrtle wood and all kinds of different rare woods. It's a great program."

Junior Meganne Mills sat drawing at a featured artist's table in front of her massive 15-foot homecoming mural depicting the theme of water in the form of a raging thunderstorm illuminating a lighthouse.

"I've been pretty much painting and drawing since day one," she said, casually adding more paint to paper. "I really enjoyed it in elementary school and then developed a more Asian-influenced, anime style in middle school. It's always been something I've been passionate about. I dabble in a little bit of all media: acrylics, prima-color markers, watercolors and charcoal. I get ideas and inspiration from music, especially The Beatles, and put a lot of emotion into my drawings."

As the evening wound down, Angela Lund's Sisters Community Theatre group presented a series of spotlight drama performances in the lecture/drama room, with a monologue from Anton Chekov's "The Swan Song" by Joel Fisher, a reunion scene in a dress shop with Susan Stafford and Hannah Rockwood and a finale piece showcasing a riveting scene from Tolkien's "The Hobbit," starring Rob Merola and Devon Cash as Bilbo Baggins and Gollum in a mind-game struggle for the precious Ring of Power.

"I was really excited to do it and practiced for weeks," said Merola, a Sisters High School freshman also in the Jazz Choir. "But I forgot my sword at home and my mom had to go back and get it."