FEATURES

The Warrensburg High School Art Club Calendar
A TRADITION and a POINT OF PRIDE
by John Willard

A life-long resident of Johnson County, Missouri, Mr. Willard attended Central Missouri State University, graduating with a B.S. in Education in 1971. After having taught for two years at Odessa High School in Odessa, Missouri, he moved to Warrensburg, where he has taught for the past 31 years. He earned a M.S. in Education in 1981. He is chair of the art department at Warrenburg High School and teaches art courses for University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) credit through the High School/College Program.

When he is not working with students, Mr. Willard invests most of his creative time in watercolor painting. His work is sold in galleries in Natchez, Mississippi, as well as Rudy's Gallery in Warrensburg and Aull's Well gallery, Lexington, Mo.

John and his wife Anita have three teenage children. The family resides in Warrensburg.

For the past 19 years, members of Warrensburg High School's Art Club have produced a calendar comprised of drawings of landscapes and landmarks in the area of Johnson County, Mo. Sales of the calendar provide funds to purchase art books, videocassettes and fine art prints as well as funding our Fine Arts Festival in May. The club also underwrites scholarships for two seniors interested in art as their college major.

Community support for this project has been generous, with local businesses volunteering each year to sell the calendars. In addition, the school regularly receives calls from eager buyers of, what has become a collector's item. Because local patrons send calendars to friends who have moved out of state, letters of appreciation come to the art department from all over the United States. Orders are frequently called in from former Missourians who want the latest edition of the calendar, with its visual reminder of time they spent in the Warrensburg area.

It has been gratifying to see what was started as simply a fundraiser become a tradition and a point of pride for our art students and the art department. Art Club members vote on which drawings should be included in the calendar and competition is keen. Drawings created for the calendar also go into student portfolios, which then are considered in awarding scholarships. Many of the drawings have been selected for UMKC's HSCP annual exhibits. The 2003 scholarship winners, Melissa Klinkner and Anna Watson, are currently pursuing degrees in art.

Besides fund raising, our Art Club sponsors a field trip to a special art exhibit and competition each spring. In the past we have toured the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Thomas Hart Benton home, Kansas City Art Institute, the Scholastics Exhibitions, and the Kemper Gallery, as well as the Hallmark Visitors' Center.

Warrensburg High School's art program involves three full- time instructors. Curriculum is centered around three levels of instruction. Art I level courses include art basics (media and skill development). In Art II, students explore a wider variety of media and techniques. Junior and senior level students enroll in advanced level Portfolio Drawing, Portfolio Painting, Photography, Portfolio Ceramics, Three-D Art and Senior Portfolio. Senior Portfolio students can earn UMKC credit through the HSCP.

Art history and art appreciation are integral to all levels of art classes at Warrensburg. Art I students experience an intensive study of art from Egyptian through the Italian Renaissance. Art II students study 18th and 19th century artists, and the portfolio-level students study 20th century and contemporary artists.